Souvenir
by SilverCrystal029
Summary: The world narrowly avoids catastrophe and a select few are left with harrowing memories of a bleak, alternate reality. Remy retains his and is haunted by a life where he knew and loved Rogue. Unable to let go, can he join the X-Men and find a way move on from a life she doesn't remember? ROMY
1. Chapter 1

_disclaimer: though I write and edit a massive amount of X-Men Evo content I do not own any. enjoy!_

* * *

Nobody else remembered. When reality was restored their memories were erased. Sent away, evaporated. It was like the world had never ended, for them. This left Remy in a prison of his own memories. One of his own making that he could not escape no matter how much thought he devoted to it.

Wanda cast a worldwide, reality warping spell in a fit of insanity and rage. Mutants had been hunted to near extinction after Jean's powers manifested in a deadly way. Magneto was a father figure to him, like Charles. A leader. He actually fought for mutant kind. And, Rogue was by his side. She laid her life on the line for the cause, using her powers to be a living will and testament to all the fallen mutants.

He loved her. Remy had never loved anything in his life, but he knew that he loved her. She made him believe in a future, a peaceful place and time for them. That the fighting would someday will all be worth it. Like her mentor used to believe, in a time before all of this.

Then, he woke up. Things Were Back The Way They Used To Be. This made sense, too. Bayville. Apocalypse. New Orleans. But, his memories of that alternate timeline were so_ real_. They were as real and tangible in his head as his knowledge of this world. He didn't have to stalk the school very long to see none of them remembered. Most of them hadn't existed, and Rogue was the same. Life carried on. Only he lived with the shadows of another life.

And, he couldn't keep himself away from her, a girl barely out of _high school_. He remembered every touch, every battle, every moment by her side... And she remembered nothing.

She was content with her mansion life, her eyes not prying the horizon searching for him. Wondering where_ he_ was. Laying awake and_ yearning_ to touch him, again. Fever dreams of his face haunting her at night. He had experienced a lot, but this fake connection to the girl who was not fond of him on his best day; this was a new cruelness. He forced himself far away, lest he make a fool of himself and that poor girl uncomfortable. They would see him gaze at her with a lifetime of love. Like she was the air he breathed. They wouldn't like that.

He had been sneaking in her room, rearranging her things,_ smelling her perfume._ He couldn't sweat her out of his system no matter how hard he tried (and he tried). He tried with alcohol and other girls, but nothing seemed to help. Her alabaster skin, dark makeup, haunting grey eyes. They were all he could think of. His obsession drove him back into the arms of Nathaniel Essex.

But, when team led by the girl found him in Mr. Sinister's lab, things all became a lot more complicated.

She appeared to him in the outfit from his memories. From his dreams. She stared at him as she slowly pulled back a black hood, her face unimpressed. Sage green eyes stared back from beneath wavy, shoulder length hair. He couldn't read her expression, though. Silver bangs were like a halo framing her face. Her X-Men uniform had changed, he noticed. It seemed to cling to her tighter, more of a variation of green and black with gunmetal boots. Shrouded in a dark cape.

The girl had to be out of high school, now? She's certainly filled out some, he felt his earlobes burning as he looked her up and down. He feels a little less bad about his infatuation gone obsession. He loves her and she can barely tolerate him. It was a pain, a pain he was beginning to like out of necessity. She stared at him as though she were bored, like she already knew how this would go. He can see her short friend behind her, her dark hair cropped into a stylish bob.

He sees her adopted sibling standing nearby, tail swishing as he examined him. He looked mostly the same as Remy remembered him, scowling on the bank of the bayou. The joker, the ice mutant, Bobby Drake. And a blonde he does not recognize. But, he cannot keep his eyes off of_ her_. Her skin is luminous in Sinister's cramped lab. After a few seconds, they all seem to notice. But, she's as cool as ever.

_"Gambit,"_ She begins, and he can't help but scramble to his feet.

_She reached up and tied the sun bleached cloth to keep Remy's shaggy, unkempt hair out of his eyes. He smiled at her ginger, delicate touch."There ya go." She says, rifling gloved hands through the strands. He caught her hand and gazed at her, red and black eyes shining with longing. He loved her so much. They had no hope, humans were going to destroy them. Every last mutant._

_And still, with her, he could smile. Have hope. He pulled her close to him, frowning over her shoulder as they looked around. It was getting harder to keep them safe. Her safe. Every day was another war. "Smile, Gambit." He looked down at her in surprise. She could always tell his mood. Smile in a world where the Phoenix ate New York city? A world that was essentially over? For her, he would __try. _

_"Sure, petite. Sure." _

Rogue was chewing on gum as Gambit continued to stand and gawk at her. It would be unnerving if she wasn't privy to knowledge of how weird of a person he was. Eccentric was an understatement. Some time in her head had shown her that. She just folded her arms and waited for him to be somewhat normal. "_Hello?_" The blonde jock he wasn't familiar with began to speak.

"What is the matter with him?" He asked, unimpressed. They were all acting nonchalant after finding him in the mutant equivalent of Dr. Menegle's lab.

"That was pretty much you the first time _you_ saw Rogue," Bobby started to the elbowing of Kurt. His sister's hotness was not up for discussion. Rogue didn't pay them any mind.

_"Lune de ma vie..."_ He whispered, making Kitty scratch her head. He started towards her, arms outstretched.

"M-Moon... What? I wasn't good at french..." She cocked an eyebrow between and looked between them as he tried to hug her. _'Did I miss something?'_ Rogue huffed in exasperation.

"Moon of my,_ hey!_" She jerked back as he reached out for her hand. "Wha'ddya think ya doin'!" She cried shrilly, her face becoming red. This was weird behavior, even for him._ "Gambit-"_

"Hey, buddy." The jock was getting red faced now. Who was this corny cajun, and where did he get off acting like that with_ Rogue,_ of all people? Augustus was an easy going guy, but not right now. "Relax a little bit." The cajun didn't pay him any mind. He was busy looking for any sign of memory in Rogue's eyes. Recognition. Anything. All he saw was quickly growing annoyance.

"Gambit, ya _need_ to put a few feet between us." She sent the blonde a warning look of her own before facing the others. Nobody dared challenged her authority, it hadn't ended well for Bobby.

_"Desolé."_ He relented, dropping his stare in embarrassment. She didn't remember. She'd never remember. She would never trust him or take him seriously if he tried to explain.

"Gambit?" She sounded more concerned than anything, now. He had to stop day dreaming, reminiscing. He was back to reality, now.

"Sorry, Remy got a lot on his mind." Kurt chuckled.

"Somehow, I find _that_ hard to believe." He whispered to Kitty.

"What are you doin' here, Gambit? We are trackin' Nathaniel Essex." His stomach churns when he notices the disappointed and worried look in her eye. Deep down, somewhere she _did_ care for him. She still paints her face dark, but she's only grown into it. Her face a little more angled. Her eyes are more purple than grey, and so are her lips. "Please, don't tell me..." She doesn't finish the sentence.

"Long story, _chére_." Remy murmured, fighting the urge to reach out and touch silver strands of hair. He avoided grey eyes that were taking him in for all he was.

"Seriously? He _always_ talks like this..." The broad shouldered blonde shook his head, already annoyed. "Jesus christ..."

Rogue eyed him for a second before looking back at her team. "Well. The professor has been wantin' me to ask this for a while." She cocked her hip to the side. "He wants you to join the institute. He, like, _greatly_ insists that you consider that offer." Remy chewed one slightly chapped lip. He couldn't keep tagging along behind Sinister. He had already done some unthinkable things.

Plus, maybe he can fix this obsession he was getting. Over a life he never lived. Memories that weren't real. A girl who didn't want him. "What do ya say?" Her sharp voice shook him from a day dream. "Don't make him send me out here again for ya." He chuckled lightly.

"Sure. Why not?" He could think of several reasons why not he was ignoring.

_"Seriously?"_ Rogue smirked, glad her feminine wiles had finally paid off for something. Remy held his breath when she reached up and rifled her gloved hand through his growing hair. Hadn't found time to cut it obsessing about her. "Need a headband, or a haircut." She told him mockingly, her fingertips grazing his forehead. With that, she turned and walked out. The broad blonde fell beside her and everyone else followed. "Let's go."

Remy smiled to himself before going. "Uniform look good on ya,_ petite."_ Rogue only smiled.

"Ah know."

* * *

A/N: _Lune de ma vie: Moon of my life_


	2. Chapter 2

_disclaimer: though I write and edit a massive amount of X-Men Evo content I do not own any. enjoy!_

* * *

Remy wandered off the small, sleek jet towards the mansion as everyone filed in. He entered the hangar to find Rogue mostly doubled over, her cape dragging on the ground. She'd just finished waving off the blonde mutant, saying she_ just_ needed a moment. Some air. To breathe. It was happening more and more, these days. The cajun felt like he was intruding upon her. She seemed in pain. Her head or memories must be bothering her, this felt familiar to him.

_It'd happened again. Someone had died. There weren't many mutants left, but they were always dying. And, Rogue had a duty. Legacy, was her codename. And her duty was preserving the last thoughts and powers of the soon deceased. It was a morbid job, and she yearned for more to do, but Magneto had told her himself she needed to be reserved for that._

_The memories and psyches of the victims affected her greatly. For moments after it was like a war. A fight to remain in control. Herself. Not somebody else. It made Rogue feel physically sick, like she had the flu. Or chills. She always stole away to let the moment past. She hated everyone to see her like that. Like she was weak. She was strong, she had to be. But, Remy always knew._

_He'd find her bent over, her hands flat on a wall. Taking deep breaths, trying to focus on who she was. He wouldn't say anything, he'd just approach in his cat suit with that same fabric tied around his head. He'd place nimble fingers and charge his hands like a static shock to help relieve the pressure. When she could speak again, she'd thank him as long as he'd let her (which wasn't that long). _

He watched, frozen by the deja vu. Either she didn't care or her migraine was so bad, she couldn't say anything. Silently, he approached her like he did so many times before. In a different time. In a different life. She groaned, her head pulsing as her psyches chatted amongst themselves. She just couldn't take it, sometimes. And, how annoying for her to look weak or fragile in front of him. Without a word he placed his fingers on the back of her neck and massaged, gently.

Rogue crooned, feeling the pressure lighten. "How did you..." She didn't finish, it didn't matter. It felt amazing. She looked up in surprise, marveling at his unreasonably good features.

"Familiar wit' migraines." He lied, working at the knot at the base of her neck. Her skin was like white chocolate, flawless. Creamy, trembling beneath his fingertips. The girl was so tense, he didn't know how she stood it. A big ball of knots he wanted to spend hours working out.

"Re-"

"What the _fuck_ do ya think you're doin', _bub_?" Remy jerked back quickly, Rogue staying bent over with her hands in her hair. Logan was glaring daggers at their new guest, his claws extended. He was not pleased to catch his cajun funk on the grounds, even less with his fingers in_ her_ hair. _"Stripe?"_ She finally stood, cracking her back with a stretch as he watched her, anxiously.

"Migraine," She mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck absentmindedly. He sure had the touch, way more gentle than she ever expected. "He was_ tryin'_ to help." The stout man gently tugged the girl away from the cajun, his stare suspicious as he sniffed. He had not forgotten that he'd stolen her, and they all assumed the worst. He did not trust Remy as far as he could throw him, and he did not want her little infatuation to resurface. Things had been quiet for her, finally.

"Uh huh, _migraine._" He looked at her with dark, turbulent eyes, ones that were always searching for a problem. "I'll tell Chuck-"

"Ah'm fine, really." She was rubbing her temple still, like she wasn't fine. They'd had this conversation before, but this was the second migraine this week. He was saying something, regardless. Remy watched on, his brow furrowed in concern as he watched them interact. Of course, they were close here. They were close everywhere. Remy ventured a hundred different timelines, they had each other.

_Even if she wouldn't remember, she realized something was wrong with their world first. When she saw Katherine Pryde, everything changed. Memories of a Before pervaded her every thought. Maybe, Remy knew subconsciously that this time was rotten. Wrong. But, he got to be by her side. He got to be a hero, fight for his race and maybe die worth a damn. He got to be with her. Maybe, to him, it was worth knowing it was all a lie. _

_But, she was too damn smart. She knew. "That girl," She said, examining Magneto's cells. "There's somethin' off about her." She insisted. Long story short, they became fugitives of Magneto searching for the truth. The truth went against their race. Kitty was a spy, a defector. She freed her._

_Wanted by humans and mutants alike, they limp to Wolverine's door. He took her into his arms without hesitation and began patching her up. _

_"Who did this, darlin'?" He asked, much calmer in his old and grisled age._

_"Everybody." She half laughed, Gambit watching behind her. "Somethin's wrong, Logan." He grimaced at her. _

_"Yeah, I know." He wrapped a bandage around a cut on her arm, his face tight with concentration. She marvels at the scars that never faded once his healing factor gave out. It terrifies her that he can't heal. Even while the world's ending, she doesn't know what she'd do without him. "Been thinkin' that a lot too, lately." Her gaze dropped. _

_"So, y't'ink so, too." Remy finally commented. It was twisted, but he couldn't help but feel that he and he specifically would lose things by resetting their world. Things that were important to him, worth staying in this world for. Logan nodded. _

_"Yup. It was right till it wasn't." He said gruffly, looking at Rogue's other wounds. "Did a number on you, Legacy. You got a plan besides luck?" Remy snorted. _

_"Well, Ah touched Domino, so Ah got the grade A stuff." She explained. He only chuckled, he was the reason she was like this. Tenacious._

_"Whatever you say. Still drinkin' that turmeric tea like I told ya, for those headaches?" He looked at her like a father would scold his daughter, and she shrank like a daughter who'd been bad. Who had time to drink tea on the front lines of the biggest war ever? _

_"Sometimes," She lied. _

"Turmeric in de tea should help, _also._" The cajun added before they left. Now, Logan was weirded out. He cocked an eyebrow before he ushered her away.

"Okay, Martha Stewart. Why don't _you _talk to the professor." He turned his attention back towards Rogue. "I'll make you some black coffee." She looked at him in gratitude as they disappeared towards the kitchen. It was then Remy realized he had no idea where to go. _'Up the stairs, Gambit._' He's suddenly embarrassed at the intrusion of the voice. _'Do not worry. We can communicate like this, but I cannot read your mind due to some unique powers.'_

He felt relief even though he should've known. It was was one of the main reasons Magneto wanted him as an Acolyte_. 'Right._' He sent back after a moment. He made it up the steps. _'Now, to the right and first door.'_ He followed and hesitantly opened into the office. The bald telepath was waiting for him. "Professor,"

"Hello, Remy. It seems Rogue found you instead of our friend Dr. Essex." He frowns when Remy pales. "May I ask what you were doing there?" The southerner cleared his throat in discomfort.

"Not a good story,_ homme."_ Charles bowed his head.

"That's okay. I, least of all, am here to judge. But, I _must_ demand the truth." Remy heaved a sigh.

"Remy had a period wit' no control, seriously hurt people." The psychic dipped his head. This was the story of many young mutants out there, and he cannot help them all. Even if he wishes he could. "Dat doctor found me, said he could change dat. An' he did. Problem was, now Remy owe _him._ Or, so he thought. Remy don' believe in what he do, Remy jus' been black mailed." Charles looked at him seriously.

"So, if I offered you a way out of that situation, would you _accept?_" The New Orleans native looked at him in confusion.

"What is dat?" Charles smiled.

"Join the X-Men." Remy chuckled. He'd had a feeling it'd be that. It certainly beat the mutant holocaust with Essex. He could think of a two toned mutant worth hanging around for, as well.

"Sure, Remy do dat." As though he had known how this would go, the telepath smiled triumphantly.

"I've alerted Hank to get you set up in an open room. I've been hoping you'd join us for sometime. Try to... Stay out of trouble, Remy." If only he knew how hard he tried. He was intercepted by the blue mutant and led to a spare, spacious room.

"I do hope this will do, Remy." He nodded, still shocked about his memories of Rogue that didn't really exist.

"_Merci,_ Hank."

"Of course. Welcome aboard."

* * *

"You gonna tell me who he was, or what?" She looked up at the blonde known as Augustus. He was a few years older than her and had been with the school a little over a year. But, he had the ability to shut off mutations. Meaning, he could _touch_ her. This didn't mean she wanted to rush into physical intimacy or contact. The opposite, actually. But, it did allow them to be a little closer than most, sometimes.

He reminded Rogue that she was human, and she wanted contact she didn't have to worry about. They felt more like best friends to her, but let him tell it, they were destined. Meant to be together. Rogue wasn't sure she was meant for anything.

He was fond of her, not for her looks or the tokeness of her mutation. And, he was a bit jealous of Gambit, but he did his best to hide it as they stood on the roof of the school. At nineteen, she'd changed a lot from the uptight teen in high school. She'd loosened up a bit and toughened up in the ways that mattered. She became Scott's unofficial field commander (hence why she found Remy and not him). And, she was constantly thrust in situations she had to keep her cool in.

"He's a guy," She began, thinking of the best way to describe him. "He used to work for Magneto... Then, he kidnapped me." Augustus must've made a face, because she kept talking. "It was, like, _fine._ His dad needed help, y'know. He's pretty harmless." He'd already managed to do a lot of pretty harmful things, it seemed. Augustus had never seen his friend so distracted.

"Doesn't _sound_ harmless." He shook his head and looked up at the stars above. "You watch yourself around him. Thieves guild n'all. Don't want to get _stolen to N'awlins, huh?"_ Rogue rolled her eyes, shrugging into her green sweatshirt. She liked Augustus, but he could be obnoxious. When she's been having headaches, this was one of those times.

"Listen, I can handle my own, now." She reminds him. She can lift buses over her head, fly faster than a jet plane. Even tap into all her powers, at times. Can't really get kidnapped, now.

"I forget, sometimes." He says, jamming his hands in his pockets. She doesn't say anything else for a while, she was thinking about brushing Remy's hair out of his red and black eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

_disclaimer: though I write and edit a massive amount of X-Men Evo content I do not own any. enjoy!_

* * *

"Are ya sure?" Rogue felt her earlobes burning under the gaze of everyone in the Danger Room session. Logan rarely oversaw them, these days. The team was getting older. He became more focused on developing and training the new, young mutant talent. After much training and hazing he finally felt Scott was ready to lead the training courses. Augustus was standing behind Rogue, his hand on her shoulder.

"Y'know, If_ anythin'_ goes wrong that I'm right here." He reminded her, bright blue eyes confident. He was always so_ sure,_ Rogue wasn't that sure of anything thanks to the murky atmosphere in her head. "I'll cut ya powers off." As if on cue, he rubbed a bare hand against her ear. He looked unreasonably good in his plain, black X-Suit. But, Rogue couldn't get Remy's black and red eyes out of her mind for some reason. They almost felt familiar.

He was towards the back of the room, shuffling his cards in badly contained annoyance. Rogue didn't _want_ to press her powers, her psyches had been bothering her. She was tired, running her own missions while being on the main X-Men team, and looking after younger students. She was looking slightly paler than usual, and if Wolverine had been there he would've had her take it easy.

It was all obvious to the New Orleans native. But, circumstances forced him to keep these thoughts to himself. He didn't need Scott on his case, again. He was not pleased when Rogue brought him back with her from the mission. Quite the opposite.

Rogue steeled her face like she was used to doing. The crowd was full of familiar faces and even former enemies. Scott only stroked his chin pensively in thought. The professor and Hank had long stressed Rogue's ability to retain powers, but he always had her meltdown on his mind. He didn't want to push her too far. "What do you think, Rogue? Give it a shot?" She nodded timidly, using lots of practice to hide her blush.

She had learned to start cycling through them, but she hated the way people looked at her when she did it. Like she was a freak. A monster._ Dangerous._ Too powerful. She just wanted to be the way she was, who she was.

"Yeah. Ah can try." The professor had been gently trying to nudge her in the direction of control of her amassed abilities. Something was afoot, and she didn't care to know what. Scott nodded, exchanging a look with his girlfriend that looked like telepathic communication.

"Okay," He looked at the assortment of members. Kitty, Kurt, Piotr, Lance, Pietro, Gambit, Bobby, Jean, and Amara. "Let's try a capture the flag simulation. You all try to work together to get her out, Rogue use your powers to avoid us." She only nodded, Remy pushing reluctantly off the wall. He had a bad feeling about this, deep in his bones. It had been the blonde to suggest the exercise before Scott. Why?

He eyed him suspiciously, falling into formation with the others. Rogue shook the adrenaline from her fingertips and stared at her scattered teammates. She could do this. Both Wolverine and the professor had taught her to stand up to her psyches, for her sanity. She could use these powers in the fight. They were _her's._

She shut her eyes and tried to bring a memory forth. But, Wanda's psyche was triggered by seeing her brother. Ugly memories clawed to the surface of Rogue's mind. _'No, control them. Don't let them push ya around!'_ She coached herself, fighting for the ability to control herself. Wanda's rage was a current; it washed over everything like an ocean that was quickly dragging her under_. 'Why him,'_ Her voice said, choked. Strangled.

Remy noticed the panic on her face immediately. "Cut her powers off," He commanded, his voice lost to the chaos. His coat began to ripple as Rogue's power increased around them.

_"You fool! This is why Legacy is never to be on the field," Magneto's voice boomed from behind his white armor. Rogue's abilities amassed over time had created a massive, blistering crater. The rebel forces were losing. The resistance was weak, suffering losses in every battle. And, human armies were closing in. Rogue touched five fallen bodies. From dead to incapacitated. One biokintetic telepath, Domino's luck and marksmanship, Magneto's daughter, one who controlled the weather via air pressure, and Havok's. The resulting blast leveled the opposing army, but nearly killed Legacy herself. _

_Remy had set her free at her insistence, unable to watch her allies fall one by one while she was holed up. _

_Magneto was snarling, his hand just barely held back from striking Remy's face. Legacy lay beneath them, her eyes shut. "If you are ever so stupid again, you will never leave my cells." _

Pietro stuttered backward as a red energy covered Rogue's body. He was familiar with this power, it haunted his entire childhood after their mother died. "Oh geez..." He whimpered, going white in the face. Avoiding this had been a reason he followed Lance over to the X-Men (though _his_ reasons were painfully clear, a short girl who was paying more attention to a Russian). He only shook as everyone tried to tell if Rogue had planned this, or not.

"Rogue?" Scott called out, watching his teammate's moves very closely. If he lost control of this session he knew Logan would never let it go. Rogue was scrubbing her hands over her face, more tears leaking out. She heard teammates calling out to her, but she couldn't respond.

"Sister?" She heard Kurt call, his voice growing anxious. But Wanda was in control, and for some reason she wasn't happy to see her brother.

_"You._.." She seethed, her eyes glowing red. Her hands twisted into fists as she pointed at him.

"Contact the professor," Scott told Jean. "_And_ Logan."

"Right." Jean had barely blinked before she called out to them that this session had gone awry. Pietro was holding his hands out defensively.

"Aw, c'mon. I haven't done anything. I've been bored out of my mind in the mansion." He complained. Wanda freakouts never ended well. The Danger Room was about to need some serious renovations if they didn't calm Rogue down.

"Oh no, Wanda's memories must be too intense. It's okay, Rogue. We're here!" Kitty called through cupped hands. Jean was breaking a sweat trying to break into the chaos of Rogue's mind. The echoed voices and psyches in there were often overwhelming for her. So loud. She had no idea how the mutant dealt with it daily. The first time she tried made her respect the girl's struggle.

"Rogue, don't fight it... Let me _help_ you until the professor gets here..." She grunted, fighting the girl's wild energy. Rogue only started screaming at the intrusion in her mind, the hex energy flaring out of control. Cursing, Remy grabbed Amara and pushed her out of the way when the metal panels of the wall started flying loose. Kurt teleported out of the way of another, and Jean did her best to deflect one from slamming Scott.

"No... No! Don't lock me up again,_ don't lock me up_!" Rogue screamed, the outburst flaring in intensity. The hex energy threw both Remy and Kitty back into the wall, hard. Remy rubbed his head, watching to see the slender mutant get up as well.

"Y'alright, _petite_?" He called over the roaring noise. She rubbed her back with a frown.

"Welcome to the X-Men, Gambit. Hope you survive the experience." With that, she launched herself back into the fray to hopefully help her friend.

_"Ah can't do it, Remy! Help me!" She had successfully held of the human armies, but the numerous personalities active at once was taking her over. The sky cracked with thunder and a large, halo of pink swelled on her forehead. One hand held fire and the other ice as she cried, unable to stop herself. "__Remy-" _

_"Right here, chére. Remy right here and we not goin' anywhere." He called to her, unafraid of her awesome power. Even as Magneto cowered, too afraid to try to help her he stood there. "Ah'm gon' be right here til' ya come back to yaself." He told her, his eyes piercing her. "Focus, Legacy. Think of whatever will bring you home!" _

"Think of whatever will bring ya home!" Remy started shouting, much to the confusion of Kurt and Augustus. Scott blasted more refuse out of his way, trying to scream orders to his shellshocked team. Rogue was hovering in the air, a victim of her own power as it encased her.

_"Pulse!"_ Scott screamed. "Negate her powers! Before somebody gets hurt!" He yelled, sounding crosser than he meant to.

The broad mutant stuttered out of his stupor and raced towards her with hands outstretched. Unfortunately, Wanda's hex made them backfire. The power was directed at Kurt, who didn't teleport and was slammed with a table.

"OUCH," Augustus looked at his hands in confusion. He'd never fought Wanda and this had never happened before. Rogue threw her hand out and a tile of floor slammed into Scott's face, knocking his visor off. Right when Jean rushed forward to try and intercept her, Scott's optic beam slammed into her, searing a hole through her suit and slamming her into the wall.

"WATCH OUT!" Scott called helplessly, the back of his arm covering his eyelids.

"Jean!" Kitty screamed into the mess, Piotr narrowly pulling her out of the way of a cabinet. Lance cracked his knuckles. He and Rogue had been teammates once, a long time ago. She wasn't so tough. He moved protectively over Kitty with a determined scowl.

"I got this." He declared, the brunette shaking her head. She knew her boyfriend definitely didn't have this.

_"Lance-_" He ran forward and clenched his fists, demonstrating his growth in skill and power over the years. Even Piotr stumbled on his feet as the earthquake seemed to rattle even Rogue, who was on the ground. Taking advantage of the moment, Lance launched himself at her and tackled her to the ground (knowing too well that using too much of his power against Wanda's power ended in tragedy). Rogue screamed bloody murder as they both hit the ground, hard.

"Jean? Jean,_ say something.._. Rogue? Are you okay?" Scott screamed out, his visor hidden amongst the mounting rubble. Jean was unconscious, slumped against the wall and everyone else was effectively freaking out. When Lance pinned her, her eyes began to grow white. Finally, another psyche took over. A very claustrophobic one, and she did not like being pinned.

"Off..." Rogue mumbled, her eyes glossy. Her body began to shake and Lance felt the static electricity. _"GET OFF!"_ She shouted, thunder clapping and winds whipping the boy crashing into the wall. Clouds formed and rain filled the room as lightning began striking the ground, haphazardly. Rogue floated along the Danger Room ceiling, desperate for fresh air and to not be contained.

"She's gonna hurt herself!" Kitty shouted, hoping Logan or the professor got there soon. It felt like his had been going on forever, but it probably hadn't been that long. Screaming, Rogue shot a blast of electricity that had nowhere to go. Remy found himself shouting unintelligibly when it was rocketed back at her, sending her careening into the wall.

She was finally still, Wanda's powers had finally stopped. Augustus was panting, standing in shock of what Rogue's powers could do. What could happen if she lost control. What happens if _he_ dropped the ball. She laid there as Scott struggled to listen, hoping his hearing could clue him in to what was happening.

_"Chére?" _All Remy could hear was the beating of his heart as he looked down at Rogue's crumpled form. It triggered another memory.

_He didn't care how angry Magneto was at him. If he'd defied him, put countless others at danger. He felt his only loyalty was to Legacy. Not anything else. His gloved fingertips absentmindedly grazed her face as he stared down at her, so grateful her eyes were open and she was staring back at him. He'd been gently checking her body for injuries but he stopped at her neck. _

_His large hands held her head still as he just looked down on her, so full of relief. Overwhelming, washing over him like high tide. He didn't hear the magnet mutant screaming behind him. He just saw two sage green eyes, focused on him. _

Remy instinctually reached a shaking hand behind her head. He winced when it drew back sticky and stained red with blood. _'Shit,'_ He thought, feeling his blood pressure rise.

"What the _HELL_ is going on in here?" Logan's booming voice cut through the unnecessary noise. Piotr was helping Lance, dazed from his smack. Jean was getting up slowly with the help of Kitty, and Kurt was nursing his busted nose. This was supposed to be a standard session. "Someone, explain. _Now,_" Logan paled when he saw that Jean had been burnt by Scott's stray blast. He growled when she lifted her hand to levitate Scott's visor. "Red-"

Scott groaned when he could finally open his tense eyes, anxiously prying for his girlfriend. "JEAN," He paused when he saw the handiwork of his powers. He felt a knot twist in his stomach and he felt he could be sick. "I... Jean,_ I'm so_-"

"It was an accident, Scott. It's okay." Jean insisted, leaning an arm on Kitty. But her brow was furrowed.

"What_ happened?_" Logan cut in, his anxiety rising when he didn't spot Rogue. Hadn't her powers caused all this? The professor had been rushed to Cerebro. "Where's,"

Scott's blood turned to ice in his veins._ "Rogue."_ He finished, his line of sight landing on a crater in the Danger Room's wall. Logan was sprinting before anybody said anything.

"_Peter_, escort Jean and anyone else who's banged up to the infirmary." Logan ordered as he approached Gambit of all people by Rogue's side. Scott almost offered, but he realized Logan was gonna want to chew him out after this. "Pulse. _Avalanche_, you guys hang around too. Scott, I don't need to tell _you._" The mutant only set his jaw as he anxiously peered at Rogue.

Remy appeared to have her head and neck stabilized and had one of her pale wrists in his hand, monitoring her pulse. His forehead wrinkled in solemn concentration. Logan praised him silently, looking over the flushed girl's skin. She didn't smell in danger of her life, but lord knows the last thing she needed was a_ head injury._ His hand hovered indecisively over her, like he was contemplating healing her now so he'd feel better.

"Is it bad, de head wound?" Remy can't keep the nervous edge out of his voice.

"Be a bitch to heal," Logan mumbled, his eyes appraising her. "But, not life threatening." Remy exhaled a breath he'd been holding. "I want to touch her, but with the trouble she's been havin' with her powers, it might not be such a good idea." He explained, moving some of her hair out her face. Lance huffed, both embarrassed and sore after that scuffle.

"Why do _I_ have to stay here? She's the one who freake-" Logan turned with a stare that silenced the young mutant.

_"We don't use that word in here._" He said, the word clearly triggering dark feelings of his own. "If you think _you_ did nothin' wrong when you pinned a teammate struggling with their powers, you need to pay more attention." Lance said nothing, realizing Jean had telepathically relayed what happened. The snarl on Logan's face lightened when Rogue's brow furrowed. She was coming to.

_"Rogue."_ Remy breathed before he thought about it. Her eyes opened and struggled to focus, a man with a lot of stubble and brassy hair that was too long stared down at her. It seemed familiar to her, like she'd woken up to this sight before. Memories of another life bathed her, only for a second. Leaving behind only confusion and questions.

"A-_Asticot_..." She whispered, making Remy's heart skip a beat. That's what she called him, before. In another life. _'S-She...'_ The warm recognition faded to concussed confusion. Logan noticed the moment, though. He made a mental note to bring that up, later. For now, she needed peace. Rest. And, to be examined. "_Ngggh_, Logan?"

"Easy, darlin'." The worry on his face betrayed his easy going tone. He and Remy helped her lean up slowly as she groaned. He sucked his teeth when he saw her hair mottled and tangled with dark, acrid blood. "Okay, _definitely_ concussed." He looked to Remy wearily. He didn't know why, but he'd seemed to know what to do. "Can you escort her to the infirmary? I have a few words for_ these_ yahoos." Remy only nodded, taking care to gingerly help Rogue stand.

When she rose, he swept her into his arms quickly. "Oui." He answered with a bow. Rogue's head spinning too much to question it or complain. When they cleared the basement, he turned his wrathful stares at the X-Men behind him.

"You, what were_ you_ thinking with your experience? You wanna show off, Alvers? Impress a _pretty Kitty_? Go somewhere else." He turned his stare to Scott. "You? You should know better than to experiment with Rogue_ or_ Jean's training regimen without consulting me. So eager to prove your chops, Jean _and_ Rogue got hurt." Scott bit the inside of his cheek, most angry of all that Logan was right. With a sigh, he turned to Augustus. "And you? All I'll say is don't write checks for her your ass can't cash. Any of 'em."

With that, he turned to go check on Rogue and Jean. Scott sighed, following after leaving Augustus all alone. He knew he was going to get chewed out a second time for this.


	4. Chapter 4

_I have been advised to use disclaimers_,_ though I write and edit a massive amount of X-Men Evo content I do not own any. enjoy!_

* * *

Rogue groaned and that caught the attention of both Remy and Hank. She leaned up slightly and the blue doctor cautioned her, his brow furrowed. Normally, she would've chewed the cajun out for his proximity to her infirmary bed, but it didn't feel weird. If her head wasn't buzzing she'd be worried about her growing affinity for him. He feels at home by her side, looking down anxiously as Hank scrolled over her chart. The thief is observant and he notices that _her's_ seems longer than most.

"Easy, Ms. Anna. Quite a knock on the head." His stare is a nostalgic mixture of sadness and anxiety. One he can't help but look at the girl with. "I'm afraid to ask how you sustained it?" Rogue smiled sheepishly, but neither man's face lightened.

"Oh, well... Ah-" She poked her fingers together.

"Migraines?_ Anna_..." She cursed inwardly. Logan had sung like a bird. She made a mental note to raise hell when she was feeling better.

"Headaches." She corrected sharply, rubbing her head tenderly as she examined her X-Suit without the cape. Hank tucked a pencil behind his ear and glowered at the girl, his eyes shining deeply with concern. Remy stood silently, not feeling a place to speak.

"I'm getting concerned by the frequency of your visits." He commented, looking over her chart again. "Have you been drinking the teas?" One look at her face and he figured not.

"Ah'm here for a _real_ injury, Dr. McCoy." She reminded him hotly. He did not have to discuss her potential instability in front of _Gambit_. She found it oddly embarrassing. She'd never been concerned with impressing him, before.

"Yes, one that was_ caused_ by another episode." He reminded politely. "And, one that will thankfully _force_ you to rest. Since you insist to refuse advice." He patted her gloved forearm gently. She looked down at her hands, wondering how Logan hadn't healed her, anyways. Her mutation put her at an even greater risk to coma and blackouts.

"Ah was thinkin'-" Remy squirmed when Hank's expression changed.

"Absolutely not. Your migraines and control issues are increasing in frequency. Your mind is trying to tell us something." He looked into enraged, washed out eyes. "We must learn to listen. Logan and the professor have both been instructed about why you cannot walk around suddenly healed." Rogue crossed her arms and scowled, knowing there was no use to argue her case when people went over her head.

Her head hurt too much to keep complaining. She looked to Remy, wondering just why he'd stuck around her. Usually, nobody would touch her with ten foot pole when she had problems with her powers. He was almost hovering, staring at her like she was a mirage that would fade away. She pouted, in a foul mood because of how shitty she felt.

"Ain't ya _scared_ of me? Now that ya seen me go girl interrupted?" She mumbled, her gaze fixated on the thread count of the sheets of the bed. He only shook his head.

"No." He answered, a little too quickly. His stare fixed with her's, making her temperature rise when he didn't break away. The man saw through her, for everything she was. It was paralyzing. The girl often felt that nobody knew her, even after all her time at the institute. It was hard to talk about but her sense of identity felt weak with all the psyches in her head. Rogue felt a shiver and fought the reflex to tremble.

How could somebody else know her when she didn't know_ herself,_ sometimes? It was the biggest reason she hadn't pursued Augustus, even if he's capable of breaching her mutation. And willing. And handsome. Funny. Maybe, a good thing scared Rogue (lord knows she's never experienced an easy thing). "Oh." Is all she can muster, wondering what he sees as he stares. He realizes he's coming across too intense and he wishes he could help it.

"Remy seen scarier t'ings..." He continued, settling slowly into a chair. When she didn't complain, he remained there studying her curious, white hairs. He held his hands up and wiggled partially gloved fingers. "Not ev'ryone always had control,_ petite._" Her eyes widened in shock. She'd never seen him have any issues before, but he'd once been like her.

Her mutation was painful, inconvenient, and isolating. But, his could kill people at a slight malfunction. He _might've_ killed people. Her face softened more than the man had seen. "How did you finally learn to control it?" She looked at him with a haunted stare that finally chased away his. He looked at the tile on the floor through shaggy, chestnut hair.

_'Sold my soul,'_ He thought grimly. "Jus' grew into 'em,_ chére_. Sorry," He says, his voice quiet. She figured as much. She looked back at her hands, wishing desperately that she could touch him for some reason.

"Re-"

_"Gambit, come." Magneto's voice was shaking. The choices were simple. Stay behind, or defect and follow Legacy. She compromised the whole resistance by freeing a spy. He didn't know if it was the psyches or her own treachery, but even she was not above being imprisoned. And, he needed to count on his army to finish the toughest job of all. "Remy-" _

_All he could think about was her face. If she did what he said she did, there had to be a reason. He stared at Cannonball, then back at him. He expected him, of all people, to turn her in? Fuck the __resistance. Fuck the war. Fuck it all. _

_He tossed the rocket launcher down, announcing his allegiance. "Please," Jubilee cried out, shrilly. "Reconsider! That girl, Kitty! She cannot be trusted!" Cannonball began to glow with a light as Remy grabbed half his deck.  
_

_"Remy made his choice." He declared, the cards flashing fuschia in his hands. 'Ah'm comin' Rogue. Ah'll get back to ya,'_

"Ah won't go nowhere,_ chére."_ They locked eyes again. Her dreams were always bad after a bump on the head. Not even Logan could read her mind so well. She clamped her mouth shut and leaned back, her head swimming. Was he charming her? He promised her after New Orleans he wouldn't anymore, and for some reason she believed that. She was fighting a blush, thinking of him hovering over her, earlier.

"Okay."

* * *

Augustus slipped into the library quickly. The statuesque, white haired woman was already standing at a desk. Leafing through a book. He'd been in this position many times before. He was a southern mutant with a sick father, she made herself known in his life. Never staying long, but dropping off money and clothes, giving him place to stay in Bayville when his father kicked the bucket.

In a lot of ways, she'd been good to him. He definitely looked at her like a mother. But, all of that went out of the window when she wasn't pleased. And, she rarely was pleased. He stood beside her and flinched as she slapped him upside his head. Her face was twisted in a scowl as she looked at him in disgust. "What part of Rogue's health being _important_ did you not understand?" She starts, her voice making the boy shake.

He slapped a hand over his face and fought the impulse to snap back. He'd finally gotten finished being yelled at by Logan, now for it to continue. She was always antsy when they communicated. The mansion was full of occupants with powers of their own. She was one mistake away from being in a world of shit. They could be discovered at any time, and that made her tense. Which made her madder. "I'm sorry, mam. She_ hexed_ me, my powers did'-"

"Let me clarify something,_ Pulse._" He shivered as Ororo's stare went uncharacteristically cold. "Your two objectives were to keep her away from Gambit, and use your powers to become close with her. And, to help her find a way to control all her powers. Bastion is _coming._ I've read it." She grit her teeth together, writings of her former lover haunting her.

Destiny had seen extensively in Rogue's future. Mystique had a lot of work to do, still. Her manipulating had just started. And, she needed Gambit out of the picture. If they actually bonded, she'd never get access to Rogue. That slot in her life has been crucial for Mystique to keep tabs on her. The cajun wouldn't do for her plans. "Get it together, Augustus. He's in the_ infirmary_ with her."

He winced again at the sharpness of her voice. "Yes, mam." He answered, his fists balled tight. All his life he'd answered to this, fearing her even from miles away.

"Now. Get out of here." He moved swiftly, wracking his brain on how he was supposed to win points with her.

* * *

Logan stalked around the school grounds, practically seething. Maybe it was overkill, but Lance didn't seem affected enough by his words. He couldn't get through to that kid. He was not bad at heart, he had proved that during Apocalypse. And, he'd seen him with Kitty. He had a soft, introspective side. And, his powers could benefit them greatly. He just wouldn't commit to being good. He wouldn't try to take anything serious unless the world was ending.

But, the stout man didn't care about the circumstances. He wasn't gonna let it blossom into a thing where he has an issue with Rogue. No matter where he smelled or went, he couldn't get a fresh trail of the boy's scent. If he left the mansion right after almost getting a punishment, Logan was gonna blow a gasket. But, when he smelled Kitty nearby he figured it must've been something else.

She was sitting on the porch in a loose, grey sweatshirt. The rough mutant stood beside her in silence for a long while, trying to think of what to say. "He gone?" He settled for, not looking at Kitty's face. She was known to cry, and it was often his concerned gaze that started the waterworks. He didn't see the hardened look in her eye though. A girl, even as generous as her, finally fed up.

"Yeah." She said, her voice watery. "I think for good, this time." They'd had this talk the first time. Most of the Brotherhood felt in the wind after they saved the world. Magneto and Mystique disappeared. Wanda and Toad wandered off towards some mutant retreat. And last heard of Fred, he was in the sewers. Lance found a home in Kitty and he tried to find one in the institute. Everyone could tell, even before the Danger Room session; it wasn't working out.

This is almost a long time coming, for her. She loved Lance, but he was turning into something she outgrew. When the petite girl heaved a heavy sigh, Logan looked at her with dark eyes. "For _good_, for good? Or like last time?" He can't help but point out. He was so thankful that Jean and Scott had found each other, he'd be damned if he watched Katherine Pryde go through this over some ain't shit Brotherhood member.

"I_ know,_ Mr. Logan. We've hardly had an ideal relationship." He sighs, searching for a more patient tone for her. He took a seat on the pale blue bench beside her.

"Katherine," He says glumly and she shivers. She hates when he calls her real name. "If I chased him away chewing him out earlier,_ I apologize."_ She smiled sadly. He'd softened up so much from the scary man she met during high school. The Logan of the past never would've apologized for chasing a boy away.

"I don't think it was just you." She muses, tucking her bob behind her ear. "But, you were totally in the right. He was so immature earlier and still acting like the little boy who had to act out for my attention." She stuck her tongue out in disgust. He's shocked and proud of her repulsion to that. He'd imparted his X-Girl's with the right lessons. She tucked her knees to her chest. "It's not your fault he's gone, the Danger Room was just the final straw of a weakening case." She sighed again.

"Don't make it hurt any less, do it?" She shook her head no. Logan's stare drifted back out to the horizon. "I'm sure he cares about ya, darlin'. But, he can't join the X-Men for _you_. He's gotta find his place in the world, now." He wrapped a large arm around her. "You've already found yours." She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I know." She replied, trying to sort out the complicated and rapidly changing feelings. "Somehow, I think it'll be okay." He rubbed her head affectionately. "How's Rogue?" His face darkened slightly as he rose.

"Gonna go check on her, now." He tossed Kitty another look before departing. "Sure you're okay?" She rolled her shoulder, still obviously sore from the last training session.

"I'll be fine." She assured.


	5. Chapter 5

_I have been advised to use disclaimers_,_ though I write and edit a massive amount of X-Men Evo content I do not own any. enjoy!_

* * *

"Stuffy in dere, Remy take ya outside for some sun. _Non_?" The cajun suggested, his eyes twinkling as he led Rogue from the elevator towards the back porch doors. How could she be expected to heal cramped up inside? It was a beautiful day, and he found fresh air healing. She'd changed into a dark, green cami and long, moss colored gloves as she walked beside him. His hand was gently clutching her arm, leading her there and to his surprise, she let his grip linger.

He hated to admit it, but she'd been pleasant ever since she'd knocked her head. He even wondered if she had some memories. She'd never called him Asticot, before (an affectionate french term for 'crazy man'). But, then she'd go back to relatively normal, dancing away from his touch. Questioning him with her eyes.

She was technically supposed to be on bedrest. Hank let her sneak by (under the watchful eye of Gambit, of course). Her head was throbbing, but she was grateful for the sun. Fresh, clean air. The southerner by her side. Remy tried not to stare at milky skin, shining in the sun against her shadowy clothes. He swallowed when she smiled, tucking hair behind her ear.

"_Okay_, what's with the good samaritan act?" He only grinned at her, watching as Kitty and Kurt flew kites in the distance, laughing and joking. "Why ya taggin' along with me?"

"Remy don' mind bein' a good boy when it's _wit you, chére_." He told her, surprised by the sincerity in his own voice. If it bothered Rogue, she didn't show it. She was too busy smelling a pink flower Kitty and Jean had planted the spring before. He studied her classic features, trying not to drool as he admired her. He plucked a flower himself and tucked it carefully into Rogue's hair.

Now, she was blushing. _'What's... The matter with him? He's like... A different person, sometimes.'_ She looked at him with unsure, grey eyes. "Remy?"

_He went looking for her when he could not find her. He was always looking for her. The echoes and voices that lived in her head often drove her to solitude. He understood, knowing they brought her a great pain she never spoke of. He gave her the space she deserved and sometimes needed, but he was there when she needed it. He scaled the rocky cliffs she'd climbed, smelling the salty sea air to give her mind clarity. _

_"Legacy," He called out to her, unruly hair tossing in the wind. She wasn't wearing her usual somber cape and uniform. She was draped in soft looking, white cloths fashioned around herself like a beautiful robe or toga. He could only stare, her stark white skin in contrast of the overcast sky. _

_"Remy." She reached out a milky arm to him and he moved forward, taking advantage of his catsuit to press close against her, feeling her warmth. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed. _

_"Remy here, chére. Remy here." He told her quietly. He tucked the white colored flower in his hands behind her ear. _

Before he shook the memory from his head, he realized he was grabbing her gloved hand. Rubbing her fingers, gently. He noticed Logan's glare in the distance, and Augustus' approaching stomp. Remy couldn't fight the growl as the blonde went to them, his face in a scowl.

"Rogue, there you are. You're _supposed_ to be resting." He admonished, his suspicious stare on Remy. "What're you thinkin'?" He peered down at her in concern.

"Sorry, the shadow of Storm in me really hates being cramped up in there. Logan, too." Augustus' stare softened when she rubbed her head.

"I know. Why don't we get you back inside?_ Gambit_, why don't you get a glass of water? She looks pale." Rogue opened her mouth to chastise Augustus but Remy held up his hands.

"Be more den happy to." The last thing the girl needed was stress. He watched with crossed arms as the cajun mutant loped off. Rogue rubbed her arm, unsure of why she wanted him to stay. When he was gone, Augustus looked down at her.

"Wolverine asked me to come check on you." He began, brushing silver bangs out of her eyes. She only huffed, exasperation not a strong enough word.

"Oh he did, _did he_? That old bat is gettin' on my last nerve..." She cried, moving around the broad shouldered mutant to give him a piece of her mind. Augustus blocked her, his eyes shining with worry.

"I'm worried about ya, too. Scott told me_, y'know_. About what Gambit did, ya kind of glossed over that. He drugged you. He got you involved in ancient, New Orleans _mafia business?_ He lied to you,_ repeatedly,_ until you absorbed him. And, we found him in Sinister's lab. I know you hit your head, but I'm worried about you." She tried to squirm from his grasp. Ever since Remy appeared, it was like a wall went up. "How can you trust him when he's never given you a reason, Anna?"

"Ah don't know, okay!" She cried, the pressure in her head welling. She jerked away and he braced her shoulders. "He's in my_ head_, Augustus. He's done bad things, but he's not a bad person. Ah..." She'd never absorbed Augustus, and while she didn't want to, how could she trust him in the way she trusted her friends she'd touched? Her enemies, even. He tipped her chin up to look at him.

"No, Rogue._ You're_ a good person." He told her, a bit more somber than he meant to. "You want to see good parts of people. _That's_ why I worry about you." She placed an awkward hand on his arm.

"Thanks, Gus. But contrary to popular belief, Ah can handle myself." He chuckled a little. Rogue certainly was tougher than most, anyone who survived Mystique was. He opened his mouth to respond but they heard Kurt and Kitty, yelling behind them. Logan was running towards them too, fast.

"What is that over there? It looks crazy." Kitty called through cupped hands. They turned to see strange colors flashing in the in the sky. Augustus moved protectively in front of Rogue. A silver, humanoid robot appeared from the deep recesses of a purple portal. It's machinery glinted in the sun, nearly blinding both mutants. Gnarled, metal wings unfurled on its back. Another, pale skinned girl followed after him.

Logan could tell instantly she was a mutant. Her skin made Rogue look olive skinned, her complexion almost bioluminescent. Her hair was a striking, platinum blonde that matched her pallid skin tone. She was dressed in some sort of combat suit that was the same, washed out color scheme of her skin. Her eyes were limpid pools of black as she slithered beside the strange sentinel. She looked like she crawled out of a test tube.

_"OMEGA Initiative: Activated."_ The robot declared, looking at it's own mechanical arms._ "Searching for Omega level Mutants_:_ Anna Marie D'Canto, AKA Rogue. Charles Xavier. Jean Grey. Termination, required."_ Rogue's eyes went wide as Augustus pushed her back. _"Brood Member: Lolliga. Go."_ The southern mutant was paled. This was exactly what Mystique was afraid of, and it was all happening too soon.

The washed out girl moved forward in an eerily snake-like fashion. "Everyone, _back!"_ Logan screamed, his eyes wide and rolling. He had no idea what the hell he was smelling, but none of it was good. The girl was setting his nose on fire. She smelled heavily manipulated and experimented on. _'Overbred... Somehow...'_ He thought, his nose twitching. "These called out your names, it must be some part of the sentinel program! Kurt, Kitty. Go get help." He ordered, his claws shining.

"Stay behind me, Pulse you try and shut her down and I'll deal with the metal." The blue eyed mutant nodded, covering Rogue as well. The silver banged mutant noticed he was shaking, fiercely. She had never seen him wound so tight, before._ 'What's goin' on?_' Augustus threw his hands forward but the girl's arms morphed into giant, stone tentacles.

"It's not working!" They collided with him, smashing into his chest and launching him into a fence. The girl only grinned, the sight sending a chill down Logan's spine. Something wasn't right about her, and he didn't know what.

"Gus!" Rogue shouted, turning to face the sentinel.

_"Lolliga is not just mutant. She is bred with Inhuman genes in the breeding pits of the future, bred with betrayal in her DNA. A mutant made to turn on their own kind. Indestructible. I have traveled to all times on earth, this is how I stop the mutant menace. As sentient sentinel, Bastion. That is my mission."_ Logan scraped his claws together.

"Didn't ask,_ bub_. Rogue, fall b-" Lolliga's tentacles crashed into the ground, slamming them both through the air. More tentacles sprouted out of her body. One wrapped around Rogue's wrist, the other her throat. The rough, scratchy surface of the skin did not seem to be absorbed by Rogue's powers. '_How...'_ The brood mutant only smiled at her, pulling tighter. _"ROGUE-"_

Logan leapt to cut her free, but a laser from the robot christened Bastion knocked him off course. _"Mutant elimination: imminent."_ Bastion droned, targeting mini rockets at him. Healing burns and cuts, Logan rolled out of the way as he tried to climb to his feet. They had to figure out who sicked this on them. Rogue hissed in pain, struggling to free herself from the freaky girl. _'W-What is she?'_

She pulled harder, dark eyes staring through her. "Mutant who listens to_ sentinels_," She spat, trying to ignore the pressure building behind her eyes._ "Pretty sad_." She didn't say anything back. Could she even speak? She only stared through her. Rogue cried out when she tightened, making Logan slash wildly when she stuttered to one knee. She inhaled, her ribs heaving. Her lungs emptied piteously as another tentacle wrapped around her waist. Lolliga flashed teeth.

_"Hang on, Stripes!"_ Logan ordered, desperate to get away from Bastion. It wasn't an ordinary robot, that he could already tell. His laser had tore through him, he didn't want to know what it'd do to the others. Rogue screamed again, shrilly. Like a little girl, as Logan thrashed in Bastion's grip _"Marie!"_ He watched as red, glowing cards rocketed onto the lawn. Remy was moving as fast as his feet would take him, frantic to free the girl. Her face was red, straining desperately against Lolliga's arms as her hands gripped the extra digits.

_"Chére!"_ He tossed another handful of playing cards and jabbed quickly with his staff, his face pulled taut in a frown. The tentacles released, and Rogue fell to the grass in shock. She gripped her throat, gasping as Remy tugged her hard on her feet. Lolliga studied them both, her eyes hollow.

"Rem,_ you._.." He was eyeing Bastion wearily, unsure where the vile machine had come from. Sinister used to speak of things exactly like this. He thought he was mad, then. He held his staff in front of them both, watching as Logan desperately tried to carve the machine attacking them. His claws didn't seem as effective as usual, bouncing and scuffing instead of cutting.

"We need t'tink fast," He reported, noticing that Logan's claws had done no damage the silver sentinel. They watched as a giant, marble fountain slammed into the robot, following by a fence. It shattered into a fine dust as the red head hovered, glaring. An optic blast shot into one of its wings as Jean, Scott, Kitty, Kurt, Piotr, and Bobby who appeared in a flash.

_"Omega mutant, Jean Grey: Targeted."_ The red head set her brow in determination, but Scott was white as a sheet. This robot knew her _name_, someone was hunting her. Specifically. They knew who powerful she was. A million thoughts flowed through his head as he screamed, ripping his visor off and launching into the robot._ "Omega threat, Rogue: located. Missing Omega Psychic: Charles Xavier."_

"_Don't let them get near the institute!_" Logan shouted, flinging himself for the robot once more. "Go to HELL,"

"Why the _hell_ does it know who Jean and the professor, are? And Rogue?" Scott demanded, as if anyone could give an answer. The sky became dark as Ororo descended, her uniform flapping in the wind.

"We do not know, Scott. But, we will find out._ WINDS,_" She raised her hands high to the sky above. "Lend me strength to protect my home!" Thunder clapped above as the winds blew the offending robot and mutant away from them.

"The sentinel said that she's a bred mutant killer, 'Ro! Hunts for the human resistance." Logan called up to her, his teeth bared. The look on the weather goddess' face darkened. They had no time to deal with traitors when there was a school full of children to protect.

"Say no more." She answered, her eyes going white as lightning struck close to the tentacled mutant. As the winds blew her down the lawn, one of her tentacles wrapped around Rogue's ankle. Remy began screaming, his staff swinging but connecting only with stone. He looked into the ghostly girl's face, a blank expression in onyx eyes. She saw nothing, she was looking through him. He couldn't even charm her, she might as well have been a robot.

Grinning, she slapped him away from Rogue's side._ "Remy!"_ She shouted, as he dug a crater through the lawn and didn't rise. Kitty phased through the ground next, shaking as she tried to free Rogue from the mutant's grip. She met the same fate as the cajun, but slammed into an advancing Bobby. Rogue slipped out of one of her gloves, sweat trailing down her brow.

She didn't know what an inhuman was, or what would happen to her. But, she couldn't watch this happen. "Rogue!" Jean called from her fray with Bastion. She was holding a massive, telekinetic shield up as Scott tried to find a weak spot with his blasts. "Don't!" Logan turned, clutching helplessly to the massive, silver robot.

_"Put your glove on, Stripe! Don't touch her! You have no idea what you're absorbing!"_ He screamed at her, terrified what it might do to her mind. Rogue frowned as he grappled with a metal tentacle, emerging from the sentinel's back.

"But-" Lolliga only smiled, wrenching her arm hard and crashing Rogue into the ground, slamming her concussed head. For a moment, the effort to resist was too much, as Lolliga dragged Rogue towards her. The sky was spinning as everyone screamed and yelled around her.

"Secure her! Now!"

"ROGUE,"

_"Chére!"_

Ororo rose again, summoning rains she hoped would short circuit the sentinel pursuing them doggedly. It raised a hand a shot a blast that sent her sizzling out of the sky.

"STORM," Scott shouted, ducking out of the way of another explosion, Amara in his hands. Piotr was carrying Bobby out of the way of another one, looking around frantically for Kitty.

"Ro, HOLD ON!" Logan dove through the mud to catch her before she collided with the ground. She was groaning in pain, the scent of her blood assaulting his nose, first. "You're okay, 'Ro. I gotcha. You're_ okay."_

"Must... _Help_..." She insisted, through clenched teeth. She tried to squirm from his hold but he only tightened his grip. He knew she wasn't fine.

"Give it a second." He ordered.

_"K-Katya_! Kurt! Rogue!" Piotr screamed, desperate to find all the younger and smaller teammates. Kurt took advantage of the chaos and teleported beside Rogue and Lolliga.

"No you don't!" He cried, grabbing her quickly and porting them both from their grasp. Unfortunately, he landed right in front of Bastion.

"KURT!" Scott screamed. Logan set Ororo down quickly and began running, Remy already on his feet.

_"ELF, STRIPE! NO,"_ He reached out, screaming so hard his voice blew out.

_"Omega threat Rogue: take out."_ Bastion drone, swinging his massive arm around. She'd only turned around when she saw it. Not thinking, only screaming. Too panicked to teleport, Kurt launched her out of the way. Augustus screamed at them first, sitting helplessly in the grass unless he accidentally neutralized one of his teammates. He had been on few missions, he couldn't take the pressure of the fight. Then, Kitty began to sob, hysterically.

When Logan smelled Kurt's blood, his eyes went black. He was no longer Logan, the X-Men's administrator. He was in a berserker rage. Everyone froze, even Lolliga as the sentinel wrenched it's hand from Kurt's shoulder. A single tear slipped down Rogue's face as she grabbed Kurt's hands. She couldn't hear or see anything else, just the wound on his chest. "_Kurt..."_

He collapsed before he said anything, Rogue still. "KURT!" Scott screamed again, Piotr holding him back from getting killed. "LET ME GO,"

_"Target, missed."_ Bastion raised its arm and Jean began screaming.

"ROGUE," She was shell shocked. Ororo zipped through the grass surprisingly fast for how injured she'd just gotten.

"No, child! You must, _aauuugh!_" One of Lolliga's tentacles stopped her from running to Rogue's side. Suddenly, Jean realized Ororo's mutant signature was behind her._ 'That's Mystique! What's going on, here?!'_ She didn't find it prudent to reveal that, now. They couldn't handle anymore chaos. Rogue looked at the robot in it's cold visage.

Jean and Kitty gasped when her skin became metal. Her eyes glowed a fierce white as the ground shook with thunder. Remy crawled behind her and gathered Kurt in his arms quickly, wincing when he felt his blood. Logan's claws slid out of Rogue's knuckles painfully slow. A halo of pink erupted on her forehead as Angel's wings unfurled from her back.

Now, even Logan was staring as she singlehandedly repelled Bastion and Lolliga with her mind. This is what the professor had always been certain Rogue could do. Even the strange, dopplegänger of Storm was staring, knowing nobody would notice her presence over what was happening. Bastion began aiming a laser but Rogue held him with Magneto's power. His functions were scrambled by a magnetic pulse.

_"Error,"_ Bastion droned, crackling with electricity as the rain pounded them_. "Error in logistics-"_ Rogue grabbed a hold of him and Lolliga, covering them both with a light as they both teleported away. Everyone stared as it went silent, nothing but the sound of rain pelting the ground. Scott was panting, looking at the upturned earth around them.

_"How did-"_

"Ah used Kitty and Kurt's power, together." She answered, her voice shuddering as Hank took over at Kurt's side. "With Piotr's skin... Ah survived."

"Nasty wound, but he'll be alright. You hear me, boy?" Hank assessed. Kurt's teeth chattered as he faded in an out of consciousness, Kitty and Jean at his side. "Mr. Rasputin, please help me transport Kurt and Ms. Munroe to the infirmary, please." Piotr nodded solemnly, making his way to the weather witch and lifting her gracefully. Remy approached Rogue worriedly, the storm continuing to rage.

Her powers had saved them, but the last thing they needed for her to lose control. Like this, she could do unthinkable damage. He edged close to her slowly, Scott and Logan following. Their uniforms clung to them in moisture as lightning lit up the sky, Rogue's skin a ghastly strobe. "Rogue?"

"We're alright now, Kid. Why don't you power down?" Logan soothed, his eyes anchored worriedly on her. This had always been his counter argument to Charles, what if she lost control? Hurt herself? Others? Jean could barely handle her powers, how could Rogue be expected to handle _dozens?_ At one time? She was a kid, not an army. But now, he saw what the telepath feared. All knowing robots and bred mutants.

Rogue groaned as her skin returned back to normal. Her claws receded, and she put her hands to her face. "_Remy?"_

_She opened her eyes and he was there. They were both soaked through to the skin in their uniforms, but he refused to move until he was sure she was alright. They'd been surprise attacked by a few straggling rebels in the night. No casualties, luckily. She blinked a few times, raindrops falling in her eyelids like bombs. Locked with two red and black ones she can barely see in the dark. _

_He took her head and laid it in his lap, silently knowing that was exactly what she wanted him to do. _

He'd caught her just in time as she collapsed, keeping her head from hitting the grass. She stared up into his face, watching the muscles release tension when she opened her eyes. Her hair clung to her face in dark tendrils, dark and heavy with moisture.

"Right here, _chére._" He assured her, his fingers tangled in her hair. "Not bad. _Pas mal_." He watched as she grinned back at him, his gloved thumb stroking moisture on her face. Maybe, history did repeat itself. Maybe she did remember, could feel the memory. He saw something in her gaze. An uncharacteristic warmth. But, the moment gave way to pain and terror. Her brother, sentinels. They're after Charles and Jean-

_"Kurt,"_ She began, fear taking over her features. She shook in his arms and he gripped her tighter.

"Hank took him inside, said he's gonna be okay. _C'mon," _Logan assured. He helped Remy sit the woman sit up despite Scott's flustered and confused face. "Know you don't wanna go to the infirmary again, let's_ at least_ hook you up to Cerebro and make sure your powers are okay." She nodded, her knees feeling like jello as she walked. Logan caught the red head's stare, her mane clinging to her neck with rain.

"Gumbo," Logan murmured, trying not to study Jean too long. "I need to talk with red. Take her to Charles' room and get her some water." He nodded seriously, taking Rogue's arm as he led her towards the mansion. Augustus could only watch as their fingers inexplicably met. _'No...'_ Logan waded to Jean's side, studying her carefully for injury. He only saw concern in her celadon eyes.

"What's up, Jeannie? Everythin' okay?" He placed a large mitt on her back. She pressed her mouth into a grim line.

"Did you see Ororo run for Rogue?" She asked him, her hands interlocked. He scratched his head in confusion.

"Uh, no. Don't think so." He answered, already not liking where it was going. He could hardly sort through the chaos of what had happened. She shook her head.

"That's what I was afraid of. Because, she did. After she was_ injured_. It was Mystique, Logan." His claws shot out on instinct.

"She was _here-_" The rest of the sentence devolved into frustrated snarling.

"I don't think she had anything to do with that happened, but..." Her gaze drifted to Augustus, staring at the wet ground beneath him. She'd felt his emotions spike when she noticed, he knew. She kept the thoughts to herself. Logan retracted his claws with a grunt, following Jean's gaze.

"I'll be doublin' up on the security around here."


	6. Chapter 6

_I have been advised to use disclaimers_,_ though I write and edit a massive amount of X-Men Evo content I do not own any. enjoy!_

* * *

"Augustus?" Jean's voice rang across the hall as clear as bell. The school was trying to settle down after the scary and eventful moments of the day, but that was all easier said than done. Especially, with Kurt in the infirmary. This wasn't Logan or Scott, or even Rogue. He almost never came to real harm. An anxious energy buzzed around the campus, and Augustus especially. It made Jean seek him out.

He burned under her glare, wondering how much the psychic already knew. He was always a little uncomfortable around her and Charles. Who knew what they could sense. He shuddered at the thought. He tried not to squirm as she approached him in baggy, khaki pants and a tight black shirt. "Yeah, Jean. What do you need?"

She folded slender arms. "You know I'm an empath, right? Sometimes, I'm like an emotional receiver. I felt you right when I realized Mystique was on campus." His blood ran cold, and he prayed she didn't feel that. "Did you notice then, too?" He shrank into himself instinctively. Jean had a way of making people feel like she was the teacher and they were six years old.

_"I..."_

"Please, don't be afraid. You're not in trouble, all I ask for is the truth." He clutched his fists tight.

"The truth is..." He heaved a heavy sigh, and Jean swore she saw moisture gathering in his blue eyes. "I _knew_ Mystique, too. When I was younger, _like Rogue._ She had feelers out for mutant children of interest, that's just how she was." Jean watched him intently, either searching for the truth or prying into his mind. Her eyes had a way of cutting through people when she spoke.

"You knew she'd infiltrated the mansion?" He held his hands up quickly._ 'Good goin', Gus...' _

"No, I just... I know her tricks. Slipping into chaos, taking advantage of the fact that something more important was happening... Classic Mystique." She nodded slowly.

"Right. Why didn't you tell the professor or anyone? I mean, she's Kurt's mother and she impersonated Rogue's friend. It was kind of important." He stared at the maroon carpet.

"I know, mam. I just... I didn't want people to think I was her mole. I came here because I could do something good." He met her concerned, emerald eyes with his own. "It's why I identify with Rogue, so much. I _get it,_ I get how much she messes someone up. She doesn't have to explain or apologize to me. Ever."

"But, if she knew, she might think it too much coincidence. Can't say I agree, but I understand. You've got to be forthcoming with us, it's crucial for a team." Augustus nodded shamefully as she glowered at him, no matter how much she tried to keep her face even.

"I-I'm sorry. I was scared. And, that was hard to admit." He almost mumbled. He hoped Mystique wasn't a fly on the wall, because she'd find the time to get him back for his words.

"Takes a brave person to admit they're scared." Jean said with a half smile. "Why don't you see if Kitty needs any help with dinner. She usually does..." The boy paled at the thought of the girl in the kitchen, especially after a hard day. If he wanted to eat, he'd better get there, fast.

"Right... Ms. Grey." He nodded awkwardly, nearly bumping smack into Logan on the way. He growled just for good measure, sending the boy high tailing it deeper in the school. He picked up a newspaper off the table and eyed the telepath.

"Well? You _buy it?_" Jean rubbed her chin, a habit of hanging out with Scott so much.

"Mystique tried to get her clutches into him, too. When he was younger. I can understand why he was scared to tell us. But..." He quirked an expectant eyebrow.

_"But?"_

"Personally? I don't think that was all..." The rough man chuckled to himself as he stared at the black and white words below him.

"Is it ever,_ darlin'?"_ She wrapped her hands around her waist.

_'No.'_

When Augustus rounded the corner and checked his cellphone, he knew what message was waiting for him.

"WE TAKE HER." They were out of time.

* * *

Kurt felt great discomfort when he woke up. His vision was blurry, pain pervading most parts of his body. He was forever grateful that the other blue mutant had engineered a useful healing agent from Logan's healing factor. He would be feeling better a lot sooner than he should. He coughed, alerting the attention of someone immediately beside him.

He heard a moan, indicating that Rogue had been sleeping, for once. She'd been tucked in a chair beside Kurt's infirmary bed, draped in one of Logan's large sweatshirts and covered by Remy's trench coat. His eyes glittered in the dark behind her, watching silently as they both rested. She pawed at her face groggily, most of her hair in a messy ponytail.

"K-Kurt?" He'd never heard his sibling sound quite so soft before. He smiled at her, feeling bad for being surprised she was right there.

"Vell,_ this_ is a role reversal, huh?" He frowned when her face didn't lighten. No, tears were glittering in her eyes. She looked exhausted. White in comparison to the healthy alabaster she usually was. Vascular, the bags under her eyes the same color as her makeup. "It's usually me and Ki- Hey! Vhat's wrong?" He tried to sit up and regretted it, making her forehead knit.

"What's _wrong_? Kurt, you almost died! That robot, that robot was after_ me_!" She could see the value in protecting anyone, but not her own self. He raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, _ja. I know._ That's vhy I pushed you out of the vay." He grinned, but she still didn't smile.

"Logan could've_ healed me,_ idiot." She hissed. "You shouldn't have done that." Kurt held his hands up defensively, this was the sister he remembered and was still grateful for. Her lip was pulled in a snarl like her favorite teacher's, one she seems more like, everyday.

"Even _that_ is a risk." He reminded her seriously. It was great she could absorb something that could save her life, but Logan didn't like to consider it a get out of jail free card. And, the way the girl was pursued, it subconsciously made him hang around. "I vasn't thinking. Just that that thing vould take you avay. You, and Jean, and the professor..." She sighed, turning her head as a tear rolled down her cheek. Remy approached her from behind, slowly.

"Gon' check on Stormy, make ya some tea._ D'accord?_" She nodded, wiping at her face. Kurt almost asked what was going on between them, but he thought better of it. _'I'm already hurt. I vant to keep my head on my shoulders...'_ He thought in slight amusement. Remy almost didn't seem so bad, he'd been so patient and helpful of his sister since his arrival.

"Just... Be careful, damn it. Finally call you my brother, can't go off being heroic." She scolded, her Virgo tendency to nag on full throttle. He chuckled hoarsely.

"Trust me, sister. You von't catch _me_ being a hero again. Not anytime soon." He rubbed his head in discomfort. "Hank says I'll be fine. And, that I'm very lucky. Vhat about you? How do you feel?" She looked at him in confusion as he studied her face. Even in the medbay, himself he was fussing about her.

"Me? Oh, Ah'm fine." She squinted when he didn't seem to buy it. "Spit it out, Wagner."

"Y'just look pale. I heard, y'know. I mean, I take the limelight but you used a bunch of povers, Rogue." She burned under his stare, knowing he was remembering her meltdown. Her abilities easily overwhelming the team. Nearly killing her. How she didn't remember who she was, who she was supposed to be. Who the X-Men were. Why she was in so much pain. It was so difficult to watch her like that, powerless to help.

"It saved your_ life,_ Kurt. It's a good thing." He shook his head.

_"Last time_ this happened, it vasn't a good thing. You really scared us. Just, promise you'll take it easy. Okay?" She smiled at him, when did she ever.

"As long as you do, then we got a deal. Now, keep restin'. Kitty has been working_ extra hard_ on cookin' something to cheer you up." Kurt turned green at just the thought.

"H-Hey... _Vait!"_

"You thought it was_ funny_ when I was stuck here for a month, see how ya like the infirmary,_ now._" She opened the door to reveal Kitty with a pan and an interesting smell.

_"Kurt!" _

Rogue chuckled to herself as she exited the infirmary, running right into Scott's broad chest. He furrowed his brow when he looked at her. Maybe, she did look as bad as Kurt said she did. "Oh, sorry..." She mumbled, forcing her heart to slow down. Old habits died hard, and so did her feelings for Summers. She was just an expert at dealing with them, now.

"Rogue... I, we need to talk about something." Her face sobered quickly as he followed her away from Kurt's room. Whatever it was, he didn't want to tell him yet.

"S-Sure, Scott..."

"Jean believes Mystique was on campus when Bastion attacked." Rogue's skin paled even further as the realization crushes her. On top of all the horrible things that had happened, she'd been there. "Probably for a while before that. Don't panic, okay. We're on it. And, we're not gonna let anything happen to you o-"

"She's_ been _here?" He can hear the anxiety rising in her voice. _"Scott_," His name comes out a strangled cry and he approached her closer.

"Hey," He began, beginning to think Logan was right about not telling her. "Listen, it's-"

_"Qu'est ce que tu lui fais,"_ Remy exclaimed, coming down the hall quickly with steaming tea in hand. "Wha's wrong, _petite_?" She only sighed, Scott suddenly feeling embarrassed under Gambit's disappointed stare. Like he'd know better how to deal with her.

"I..." Scott starts.

"Mystique has been here. She's been_ spyin'_ for god knows how long," He saw the true horror on her face, that her mother would do something else unforgivable. "She's up to somethin'. Ah know it. And, Ah need to figure out what." Remy placed a hand on her shoulder as Scott prepared to lecture. When she still aims to move, he gently pushes back.

"You ne-"

"One step at a time,_ chére."_ Remy urged her with a smile, knowing she wasn't in the mood to hear Scott tell her how to deal with her feelings. "Drink dis, be wit Kurt. Whatever else come, Remy an' one-eye be here." Scott scowled at the nickname but dug deep enough to remain silent. She accepted the cup from his hands, her face blank.

"If she thinks she could drag me from Kurt, _she's wrong_." She took the tea back inside to Kurt's room. Scott dipped his head in quiet concern, his hand on his chin.

"I'm worried about her." He said softly, almost forgetting Remy was right there. "The both of them. I don't even want to tell Kurt, I just want him to get better."

"She be alright." Remy assured, his face dark. "Kid, too."


	7. Chapter 7

Remy watched the storm outside as Rogue sat with her brother, who was resting peacefully. Wolverine's serum was doing wonders but it didn't help the tense atmosphere of the school. They were under attack from many angles. Logan was pacing the grounds overhead, determined to make sure the school was clear from danger. Scott had been anchored on the roof himself, unsure of what he was waiting for.

Rogue pulled the sheet higher over her sibling's chest as he slept, worrying silently about his close call. One that happened because someone was after_ her,_ again. She'd never forgive herself if he wasn't okay. Remy can read the look on her face, but he chooses not to say anything. It seems better not to intrude on their family business, especially with their mother in the mix.

"He be okay, _petite._" Remy insists, not for the first time that night. She smiled lamely, settling on the edge of Kurt's bed as she thought.

"Kurt's... Never_ had_ a close call like this." The southern mutant frowned. She stood when he did, sort of naturally gravitating towards his arms as doubts overwhelmed her. She felt at home near him. Safe. Secure. Safer than she even used to feel in Scott's broad arms (on the rare occasion she was in them). That had been a comfort, but this is where she belonged. Standing in front of Remy, letting him tell her everything_ will_ be okay.

The shoulder of her indigo shirt slipped down, and Remy fixed it out of instinct. Rogue didn't protest, looking deep into his eyes as they took her in. "It be alright,_ chére._ Y'not alone. He not, either." He reminded her, fighting the urge to place a finger on her lips. They were so full, and hanging there, unshielded. She dropped her eyes and turned to the doorway, where a blonde was watching them both.

"Gus," Rogue says, her head foggy. He looks like he's seen a ghost for some reason. But, she's not sure why. "Hey, what's up?" The cajun moved a little farther from Rogue, grudgingly as Augustus stood there in a hooded sweatshirt. When he didn't immediately answer, she frowned. "Everythin' okay?" Remy didn't like the look in his eye. Something was troubling him.

He slipped into his trench coat, nonchalantly as Augustus entered the room. Uninvited. Remy notices he's shaking, but he keeps his face even. On the inside, he's ready to pounce. The man's done enough thieving to know nerves when he sees them. The southern boy was more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs._ 'Why,'_ He thought, flipping his cards in a way to make him see distracted. '_What he got to hide..'_

"We..." All he can think about is what he's hiding, what he's about to do. How much he doesn't want to lose the girl as a friend, and he's about to. "Gambit, could you give us a_ minute_?" He doesn't look up from playing cards or overgrown, brassy hair. Augustus was getting tired of him.

_"Non,"_ He answers calmly. Rogue's eyes shift to him.

"It's o-"

"With all due respect, why _not_?" Augustus presses, an eyebrow raised. He was not in the mood for the vagrant's shit.

"He nervous, Rogue. Hidin' somethin..." Her face twists into a scowl.

_"Stop it,"_ She begins in a low voice. She couldn't handle another deception by her friend. He has no real idea what Mystique's put her through. The broad shouldered mutant just stared, mouth agape. "Ya don't know what ya sayin'."

"He blinkin' too much, _shakin,_ sweatin_'._ Hasn't stood_ still_ since he walk in here, c'mon. Sorry, _mon ami._ One t'ing Remy know, it body language." The Remy in her mind concurred, and she definitely sensed a nervous atmosphere surrounding him, but she didn't want to assume the worst. She couldn't. It'd taken her too long to get over her mother's betrayal. "Y'gonna keep lyin', or tell us what wrong? So w'kin help?" Red and black eyes looked up from shuffling cards.

"I'm gonna tell _you_ to get out of here." He pressed, wishing the southerner would press his luck. Remy doesn't look ruffled, but he'll fight if he has to. Rogue wedges herself between them before he thinks about it.

"Hey, wait a minute. Y'not_ fightin'_ in my brother's infirmary room." The short mutant hissed. She sent them both glowering looks as she tucked her bangs behind her ear. "Besides, there's no reason to fight. Just... Relax." Rubbing a pulsing temple, she tried to get Augustus to explain. "Now, what's-" His eyes began to glow as Remy found at that exact moment he was unable to use his powers. _'Bastard-'_

He was shoved into a wall, making a ruckus that woke a sleeping Kurt. He rubbed groggy eyes until he realized people were_ fighting_ in the medbay. Then he sat upright despite a soreness. "H-Hey?!" Rogue reached up out of reflex and grabbed Augustus' arm to restrain him from his little feud.

"Gus, you stop. _Now."_ She wasn't hurting him, but he couldn't move his arm. He was always left in awe of the girl's power. Reluctantly, his eyes began to glow. _'He's... He's turning off my powers?'_ He ripped easily from her grip, his head dipped in shame. "P-Pulse, if you know what's good for you!" She's almost too shocked to believe this was happening. _'What is he doing?'_

"I'm sorry, Rogue. You're gonna understand,_ soon."_ Remy climbed to his feet, hoping that this had nothing to do with Mystique's sighting.

_"Get away from her,_" He demanded with a pointed finger, hoping somebody heard all the commotion down there.

"H-Help! Someone," Kurt called through cupped hands. Rogue's face was going red in shock, turning to her sibling seriously.

"Don'_t you_ teleport." She warned. "Ah'll deal with this yahoo, myself. Augustus, _what_ are ya doin'?" She was beginning to panic when she realized she couldn't break his grasp, not without her strength. He's never gripped her so tight before, and he won't meet her eyes._ "Gus!"_ She watched in shock as Remy flung himself for them both.

The pulse emanating from his eyes hurled him back, again as Kurt could only watch. The cajun is a little slower to rise this time, cursing his inability to kinetically charge his cards. "We're leaving," He says, almost making the blue furred mutant rip the IVs from his arm.

"Kurt,_ stop!_" Rogue begs, looking at her teammate in shock. Someone was putting him up to it, and she didn't want to think who.

"Vhere are you taking her?" Kurt demanded, praying someone else showed up.

"Somewhere safe." Augustus answered, looking up as Rogue beat on his forearm in a fury.

"His _mother_ put you up to this? Threaten you? We'll_ help_ you, Augustus. Ah got away from her too, okay? Don't do this. Please! Stop!" Her eyes are rolling wildly in her head as she begs for truth. Anything but what she's thinking. He shut blue eyes as he wrenched her, hard towards the door. Mystique had told him, all of this. He would fall for the girl, either as a friend or in love. He wouldn't want to betray her. He wouldn't want to her to find out the truth. But, if he really cares about her he'll get her far away.

"Stop it!" Kurt demands, but his pulse blasts him across the room and into Remy. Not quite as hard as he'd shoved Remy back, but hard enough. She gasps in terror as her brother groans, clutching his chest.

"Okay,_ ouch."_

"Kurt! What have you done?! Stop it, Pulse! Ah've _had enough_!" Her bare hand grasped his face, but his powers kept her from absorbing him. He looked into enraged, grey eyes as she slowly realized she was powerless. _'I'm sorry, Rogue.'_

"This is the only way." He tells her again, pulling her along as she shrieked, knowing Logan's sensitive hearing has to captured some sign of distress.

"No," She looks back in terror, Remy making sure the teleporter hasn't been re-injured by Augustus' carelessness. She was tired of being taken. Stolen. Used. When he sees him pulling her faster, he takes off after them at Kurt's urging. _"Remy!_ Kurt!" She cried, reaching back as he tugged her along.

_It took the collected efforts of five mutants to hold him down. Wolverine had been caught. Magneto's resistance had found the traitors, and now she'd be taken for trial. "I will take pity on you, Gambit." The silver haired mutant Magneto says as Bobby and Dazzler appear. Rogue struggled and shook in their hands, her defiant eyes on her former leader. "I have looked after you, like my own son. My own responsibility. Since they beat Hank McCoy to death. Since the Phoenix made the war on mutants the greatest, human effort. We have all been enchanted by the promise of always having a home. They say that love is the death of duty, it happens to everyone. Once."_

_Remy thrashed on the ground as Cannonball, Cyclops, and Colossus all held him against the dirt. Their faces, stoic. "Rogue," He spits, desperate to get to her side. "Hang on," _

_When she realizes he's being pinned beside her, her struggle increases ten fold. Her teeth gnashing, doing anything to try to get to him. "R-Remy! Let him go, it was me! Ah did it! Ah let Kitty Pryde go, not him!" Mutants watching gasp in shock. _

_"I know. But for you, he would do much more. You are dangerous, Legacy. Radicalizing. You can no longer be trusted." Rogue squirmed as Magneto took her chin in his hand. _

_"Let her go!" Remy screams, Sam taking care to punch him behind the ear. _

_"Quiet, traitor." Magneto looks into Rogue's eyes for a moment before waving his hands. _

_"Take her to the cells. The sooner she's gone, the sooner things will return to normal." He sighs as Bobby leads her away, despite her thrashing. _

_"No, please! Remy!"_

_"Ah'll find, ya. Legacy, hang on!"_

Remy can't stand to watch her be pulled away, not again. His staff flying in a fury, he's about to teach the yankee why he doesn't need powers to kick his ass. Especially, on the girl's behalf. "Y'not goin' _anywhere, homme._ Not on my watch." Kurt watches as he flies through the air. Augustus pulls Rogue and tosses something into the air, something she recognized as an item in Mystique's repertoire of weapons. _'So, Ah was right...'_

The device hits Remy and shocks him, mid-air. His screams have finally reached Logan on the edge of the campus, investigating for intruders. He's heading to the mansion at full speed, and it'll be minutes until he's in the basement. Mystique has briefed Pulse about everything he needs to avoid to get Rogue out of the school. He was instructed to be delicate, but he's not making it out of there with her awake. Rogue is far too ornery and skilled.

Rogue's fist nearly collides with Augustus' face, her face chillingly impassive. Ready to do whatever she has to to avoid this fate. Friend no more, it was now her mission to stop him. To not let herself be taken, like she has been so many times. He ducks out of the way in time, Kurt watching helplessly as he sprayed a gas from his watch. Another trick of Mystique's. Rogue's plenty familiar with the feeling as Kurt yells out.

"No, don't do it!_ Vait,_" Despite her best effort, Rogue falls limply into Augustus' arms.

"Ah..._ Won't go..."_ She says, her body sagging as she fell unconscious. He adjusted her gently in her arms, ignoring the stares of the mutants in the room._ 'I'm sorry...'_

_"Get back here,"_ Remy screams with more malice than Kurt's ever heard. But, he didn't heed. Kurt was working his way to his feet when they disappeared from sight. The cajun's vision is still doubled, but he's forcing his mind to think of something. And, fast. He knew Mystique had enough skills to make it very difficult to find the girl. "Blue, quick. Can ya contact the professor. Or red? Wit ya mind?" He forces himself to calm and shuts his eyes.

_'J-Jean... Professor?'_

_'Everything alright, Kurt?'_

_'Is something going on in the infirmary?'_ The red head asked, confused that her friend is awake. Come to think of it, she was blocking out some pretty weird feelings, subconsciously.

_'Hurry, you must hurry! Pulse... Attacked Gambit and I...'_

_'Attacked?'_ Charles almost snapped back in his mind.

_'Oh.. Oh no...'_

_'He gassed Rogue. He shocked Gambit and he took her!'_

_'Logan is on his way to you. Ororo will take me to the War Room to start security protocols, Jean and Scott will head him off on the upper levels. He won't believe he can take us all-'_ An earth shattering noise interrupts him, and he does not chime in again to the boy's confusion.

_'Professor? Professor?!'_ He looked to Remy in concern. "Something's happening up there." He held two fingers out to grab him and port, but the southern mutant hangs back.

"You sure ya can," Red and black eyes squint with worry.

"I'll be fine. Promise." They clasped hands and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. They resurfaced on the main floor, right in front of a flustered Logan. His hair is standing on edge, teeth bared anxiously. Charles is screaming frantically in his head, and he has no idea what's going on. He cursed when both Remy and Kurt stumbled to the ground, the latter clutching his chest.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" He demanded angrily, a finger jabbed in their faces.

"No time," Kurt pants as Remy shakes his head.

"Pulse. We t'ink he's workin' for _Mystique._" The man's eyes go dark. "He took _Rogue._" He's already moving.

"You, stay here. Look after elf." He doesn't wait for confirmation as he zeroes in on smells and runs off. The mansion's shaking beneath his feet makes him realize that others have realized the jig, as well. A loud explosion makes him throw his arms up, praying no kids were nearby. _'God, what is happenin' in here...' _

"Watch out! Mystique has a _weapon_!" He hears Jean scream in just the other room. His claws fly out and he snarls as he throws himself in the kitchen. Pulse has Rogue slung over his shoulder, and is single-handedly disabling the powers of half the mansion. Scott's blue eyes are no longer shooting optic blasts, but he's swinging wildly to get to his friend, his black polo singed.

It turns out, there's_ a lot_ Augustus hasn't told them, including the extensiveness of the training Mystique has given him. He's one of the most skilled, tactical fighters at the school and acted like he needed intermediate training. Even the overstudied Scott can not hit him, plates shattering as various mutations disrupted, simultaneously. "Don't make me do all this," Augustus pleads, knowing Scott's eyes are simmering beneath his sunglasses.

Jean finds his mutation bothersome, but her wide telekinetic powers appear to still work with great effort. He ducks when she swings a chair at him, careful to not hit her passed out teammate. "I... I can't fight his pulse much longer... Not without losing_ control_." Jean cries, watching as Mystique fired a series of lasers that shattered glass and sent children running. Her teeth were clenching with the strain.

"Ms. Grey!" A young, freckle faced kid cries. "My screams, they don't_ work!"_

"That's because Pulse has_ betrayed_ us, he's negating our powers!" Scott dropped to the ground and tried to sweep his legs under his. "Something he promised he'd never do, only use them for_ good!_" He's never wanted to shoot an optic blast more. He should've known. He should've seen it way before Jean noticed Mystique's sloppiness.

"This_ is_ something good, I promise." He doesn't seem to believe his words.

"The fun's over, now. You didn't expect them to keep liking you, _did you_?" Mystique scoffs beside him, her eyes on her daughter. "We've caused enough chaos, now let's go bef-" A tackle from Logan sent her flying into the cabinets, her gun flying from her hands. Glass shatters and rains over anyone, nearby.

"YOU," He begins, raising a clawed fist.

"PULSE," She bellowed, struggling to roll from under him. He couldn't make his claws go away, but even this the woman had thought of. A dart shot out of his watch and into the wild man's bicep. He doesn't seem to notice, he's working up the nerve to carve Mystique. His hand shakes as drool drips from his mouth.

"Can't make your claws go away, but_ I can_ negate your healing factor. And, that rattlesnake venom ain't gonna be fun without it." Logan can feel it set his blood on fire as Jean lets out a panicked gasp.

"Stop it,_ you wouldn_'t!" She screams, reaching out with her telekinesis to remove the dart. The damage is already done as he falls to one knee. "Logan? Logan!"

_"You..."_ Is all Logan growls, knowing he shouldn't talk.

"Want your powers back, you wanna _heal_..." He tries not to look at Rogue's unconscious face. "Then I gotta get far away from here." Mystique slipped from under Logan with a grunt.

_"With_ the girl."

"NO," Scott yells, mostly hurt by Augustus' betrayal. "I trained you... _Trusted you_, we took you in no questions asked. How... How could..."

_'Please, don't do this. If you need help, Augustus we will help you_.' Charles begged, telepathically.

"Let us go, it's better this way." Mystique smiles as Scott bares his teeth. "_We_ knew Bastion was coming. We know how to keep her safe."

"You're _wrong!_" Logan snarled, Jean dropping to his side as he cried out in agony. He hadn't felt a pain like this without healing in decades. He's twitching and trembling, unable to speak as Rogue dangles on Augustus' shoulder. _'No... Can't let her hurt her, again...'_ He thinks, knowing how terrified Rogue will be to wake up with the likes of her.

"Come, they can't do anything. Let's go while she's still calm." Mystique looks at Rogue like a mother looked at their child, even as Jean and Scott glared in disgust._ 'She's delusional...'_ The telepath thinks, shaking to see her standing beside Rogue. Jean looks up in horror as Kitty runs out, fist cocked and screaming in fury. But, with her power blocked she ran smack into Augustus' fist and bounced off a table.

_"Kit-_" Scott moved next as Jean watched from the ground, her boyfriend launching a kick aimed at Mystique's face. She slid out of the way with ease, making Jean bristle when she knocks him back with a kick to the ribs.

_"Raven,"_ Jean warns, flames in her voice. Scott sits up with great labor, knowing he'll never take his optic blasts for granted again. "Don't do it! Don't go!"

"Stop me." She spits back, months of spying letting her know that Jean walks a fine line with her precarious powers. And, she knows better than to take her bait to lost control. "Heal, tiny people. It's time for Rogue to come home. _With me_." Augustus shuts his eyes as he turns away. Kurt and Remy make it to the kitchen, but there's nothing more they can do. Sabretooth is waiting in a chopper.

"No, don't. _Mother_..." She doesn't look back at her actual child. It's too hard to, now. When they rise in the helicopter, Logan finally begins to heal. Jean rubs her face in her hands, Hank and Ororo arriving moments too late. When they don't see Rogue anywhere, they realize what's happened.

"Oh no," Ororo begins, Hank wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"This too, shall pass." The blue mutant says quietly, looking around the trashed kitchen._ 'Heavens...'_ After an agonizingly long moment, Logan shot to his feet as soon as his body would allow. Remy stalked through the kitchen, searching for any sign of the silver haired girl. _'No...'_ Tables and chairs were overturned, produce spilled. Mystique had gotten her way. _'Dey took her...' _

"Pulse have a gun to his head_, or is he on my shit list, too_?" He watched as Jean helped Kitty sit up with a disconcerted look on her face.

"Too soon to tell..." She grumbled, Kitty rubbing the growing knot on her head. Scott, however, was seething.

"He was in on it, _all the way._" He huffed, shaking at the thought of seeing him again. "The next time I see him, he won't have time to..." Jean laid a hand on the side of his face to silence him.

"Shh, Scott." He dropped his eyes to the floor in frustration. None of them had seen this coming.

"Don' matter." Remy says, staring outside of the patio doors and into the rain. "We need to get her out."


	8. Chapter 8

_Everything is dark except for his face. Confusing. Shrouded in mystery, Unexplained. All except red and black eyes, watching and waiting to see that she's okay. It gets so dark in her mind, sometimes. Foggy. Murky. It's easy to get lost when her mind isn't just her own. The groggy feeling lifts, and though she feels weird she knows he will be waiting by her side. Him. Remy. _

She heard someone shift beside her as she moved on a hard bed. She whimpered, gathering the nerve to open her eyes to bright, fluorescent lights. The mood was much darker than any lighting at the infirmary. She was familiar with it all. _"Remy?_" She leans up, but he is not there. The room has barely any light, and there are no windows she can see. Only Pulse is by her side, sitting guiltily. Blue eyes trained on the floor.

Mystique scoffed in the background. _"Ugh,_ god. What did she say?" Rogue's blood is 900 degrees fahrenheit when she hears her former mother's voice. She doesn't even acknowledge Augustus or care that he will cancel out her powers. Her eyes blank, she screams to the air for her, hands outstretched to strangle her.

"YOU," Rogue drops from the air and into Augustus' lap, his eyes glowing white. "Augustus, stop! _Now_!" She pulled against broad arms as Mystique stared at her, her arms folded.

"Well, I didn't raise a_ quitter_."

"One day, Mystique. _One day_ Ah'm gonna get you, good." The shapeshifter only blinked.

"Today is not that day. And, you should be grateful for that. If it weren't for me, that thi-"

"That _thing_ is gonna attack my_ school_," Augustus winces when she drags her nails against his skin to get away. "You're not keepin' me, here!" She shrieks, slapping at a silent Pulse as she tries to figure out where she was. She could be underground, for all she knew. And knowing her mother, she likely was. Mystique is not moved by the tantrum, studying her daughter's dark shirt that dipped too low and ripped, dark pants.

"Didn't you see? That thing is after you, that telepath, and_ Charles!_ The man who's supposed to _protect_ you. I'm not letting you back there, you'll get kille-"

_"Ah don't give a damn_," Rogue seethes, the look in her eyes mirror her mother. _"Raven!_"

"You are far too important to me, and to others. They... Can't _protect_ you." The blonde looks down in surprise when Rogue starts cackling in his arms, wondering if Mystique's finally managed to drive her crazy.

"Important..._ Protect_... If you don't think the_ institute_ could protect me," She looked up with livid, grey eyes. "What the hell makes you think_ you c_an? Ah mean, _really_?" She watched in disapproval as Mystique reveals a worn, burgundy book. Leather bound. Certainly Destiny's. Her eyes grow wide and she's finally still. She grew up eyeing those books, wondering what was in them. Why her mother frequently wrote in them. Now, she knew.

_"This._ Knowledge of the future._ Your_ future. Now, do you understand?" Still, Rogue looked at Mystique with contempt.

"If my only chance of survival was goin' with _you,_ Ah'd choose death. Literally, every time."

"This is _serious._" Mystique spat.

"So am_ Ah._ If you wanna live, you'll hand my momma's books to the X-Men so we can stop this robot from burnin' everything down." The blue mutant only scowled as Rogue looked around the dimly furnished basement they seemed to be in. Crates covered in sheets, unidentifiable tools all around_. 'God, where am I?'_

"Very funny. It'll be better this way. So long as you keep throwing yourself in the path of danger, your life will be at risk. Haven't you done_ enough?_" Rogue shook her head, finding a way to still be amazed by the mutant in front of her.

"You _would_ think that, Mystique. Augustus, ya got_ five_ seconds to let me go." He only sighs, knowing Rogue well enough to know she's way past the point of forgiveness.

"I'm sorry, Rogue. _Really_..."

"Sorry, ain't what you're about to be. _Especially_ when the X-Men find me." Mystique chuckled, eyeing the book in her eyes for a long moment.

"Yes. Right_. Why_ do you think I've hidden you? I figure once the robot get's it's pound of flesh from your _friends_, it might leave you alone." Augustus shuts his eyes when Rogue looks like she's about to start screaming. Her face is an odd shade of red.

_"Ah swear to god,"_

"Don't swear, Anna." That voice used to gather her as a child, but not today.

"No, don't _mommy_, me! You're playin' with lives! You always are, and _you don't care!_" Frustrated, helpless tears threaten to spill from her eyes. How many times was she going to be in this position, at her mother's (lack) of mercy. Driven insane by those damn books, fulfilling each prophecy with her schemes. She was so exhausted.

"I care about_ your_ life!" Mystique finally shouted back. All her life, Rogue could not see her love. "That thing almost destroyed Kurt!" She continues screaming, but Rogue only laughs at her. "It is_ after_ you!"

"Oh, _yeah_. Your flesh and blood. Do you even_ care_! God, you dragged me from his freakin' side, kicking and screaming! What is _wrong_ with you? Do you have a heart? At all?'" Mystique gasps when she continues straining against Augustus, like a mad dog. "Ah'd rather _die th_an be with you! When are you gonna understand?"

"What part of you being important do _you_ not seem to understand?" Mystique says in disgust. "You saved the entire world from Apocalypse, _your_ power. You're wasting it with the X-Men, putting yourself in unnecessary danger for people who don't appreciate it. It's pathetic. When there are people who will hunt you, use you, _kill_ you! Don't you see?" Rogue looked straight into her mother's eyes.

"What? People _l__ike you?_" Mystique's eyes narrowed.

_"All_ Destiny and I ever wanted to do was protect you. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Until you start believing it,_ mom_." A shaking above interrupted the arguing. Augustus tentatively let go of Rogue as it became clear something was happening above them. Rogue wiped a white hand over her face, trying not to scream. "Where are we? Tell me, now." Mystique fiddled at her hands when she turned to her. _"Now,"_

"An airport, I was going to commandeer a _plane-_"

"Oh Christ, an airport? If that sentinel is here, people are going to _die!_" Rogue's eyes bulge out of her head when Mystique seems to shrug.

"I don't know, I'm trying to run away from it, remember? If it's found us?" Another explosion sounds above. "Then, we're in trouble." She nearly gags when Rogue raced towards the door. "So, where are you going?!"

"Away from you. I'm not gonna let that thing destroy lives lookin' fo_r m_e. Besides," Her eyes hardened, so much so, Augustus averted his stare. "The X-Men will come. And, they'll rescue me, rescue me from_ you."_ The shapeshifter moved to follow after her, but Augustus held her back. He knows she's going to blow up at his words, but he has to say them.

"How much are you gonna make her fight?" He asks, bracing himself for an immediate smack.

"This is her _life!_ Charles has made a simp out of her, with no sense of self preservation. Falling on her sword for that bald imbeciles 'dream'. Dreams mean nothing, Pulse. Or, did he sell you on that dream, _too?_" Sweat trails down his forehead as he stares in the woman's yellow eyes.

"You can't make a choice for someone. Rogue's chosen, that's never going to change." He flinched when Mystique moved close to his face.

"I'm her mother. My job is to keep her alive. _Nothing_ else." She grabbed a gun off the table that held incendiary rounds and moved to follow after the X-Man.

"I would grab one of those shotguns, you're going to need it."

* * *

Scott hadn't stopped pacing as Jean and a few copies of Jaimie tried to fix the kitchen up while everyone thought. Hank had been calling for pizza for a half hour, everyone else was trying to strategize. Or seem busy. Not as helpless as they all felt. Anything to ignore the stress permeating the area.

"Okay," Kitty says, her brow furrowed. "We need to _think_ like Mystique." She frowned at her friend. "Sorry, Kurt."

"It's... Okay." Piotr stroked his chin, pensively.

"She would be trying to get Rogue overseas." He says quietly, garnering horrified stares from Kurt and Logan. "Sorry, it is what Magneto would do. As much as she hate him, she act like him. As much as she can." Logan quirked an eyebrow. "Smart man."

"Okay, we need her traveling aliases." Scott says wearily, massaging a temple. "Jean, have you ever seen in her mind?" The red head frowned.

"I can't read her mind. She has the worst psi-shields I've ever encountered." He anchored his hands on his hips.

"Okay, her memories..." He seemed to turn, looking for Rogue to ask what memories she could make out. This only served to make him angrier and more frustrated that Augustus had infiltrated them. Just the blonde's face is enough in his mind's eye to enrage him. God, he'd caused so much trouble for them. If only they knew how to discern who to say yes and no to.

"We'll find her, Scott." Jean says, smiling lamely. She doesn't have to see his eyes to see the frustration and concern in them.

"Uh..." Kitty held up an iPad playing a live news broadcast, showing an airport being torn apart. Remy moved from the window he'd been staring through to watch, spying the robot from before. His heart practically stopped beating.

_"All flights are canceled and grounded as authorities wait for the military to evacuate!"_ A panicked anchor tries to report, the screams and crashes behind them too loud._ "Please, avoid the Bayville Airport at all costs, please! It's not saf-"_

"You said Mystique would want to fly? She was probably gonna impersonate a pilot. I think... I think the robot _found_ her." Kitty says, her eyes wide as she tucked short brown hair behind her ear. She shivers when she remembers it calling out their names. Logan took the device from her hand and studied the feed. If that thing could still target her how it did on the lawn, he was willing to bet she's right.

"Regardless, we need to get suited out and to the Bayville Airport. There are civilians there." Ororo says in a frenzy, transforming her uniform in a flash of lightning. She hates to think of how they're faring against the terminator. Logan nods, pointing an directing those around him.

"Let's get going."


	9. Chapter 9

"Who's missing?" Logan barks as he looks deep into the jet. Rogue, of course. The main team was present. But, it didn't seem as packed as it needed to.

_"Uh oh_," Kurt begins, finally almost healed thanks to Hank's genius medicine.

"Gambit's not here." Jean filled in, her eyes shut. Scott folds his arms as Logan curses to himself. They knew what he was planning to do, the same thing Scott would if someone had stolen Jean (and without hesitation). He'd be off to deal with it, himself.

"Not thinkin' straight," Logan worries, thinking about how unusually anchored to each other the southerners had been. It was no secret he was crazy about her, but he didn't want him to rush off and get killed on her account (despite how much he generally disliked him). And, Rogue didn't need something else to blame herself over. "50 minute drive? We'll get there in three." He toggles a few switches in the Blackbird. He just hopes they didn't catch on too late.

"Be ready for a battle." Ororo says, still a little tender, herself. The robot came asking for Rogue, Jean, and Charles. It wasn't getting that without an all out fight.

"Buckle up." Logan demands as the hangar doors open. He had several bones to pick with Mystique and Augustus.

* * *

"Anna please. _Don't_ do this." She pulled free from her former mother's grasp, Augustus lingering awkwardly behind her. The top of the airport was in flaming chaos, people fleeing into tarmacs as the robot lifted planes with ease. No military has claimed the machine, making people fear terrorism or even the terminator. "It is suicide_ with_ your team. What do you think it is, now?"

Rogue only rolled grey eyes, adjusting the jacket thrown over her shirt. "Guess you better go, then." Huffing, Mystique didn't look any closer to fleeing.

_"Mutants, detected. Anna Marie D'Canto. Threat level: Omega status."_ The blonde watches as she tugs a long glove off and sticks it in her pants.

"Know how we never touched, Augustus?" He nodded, shocked that she addressed him with words. "Ah got an idea. Maybe, if you're capable of the opposite of your mutation." He shrugged, not knowing if now was the time to figure it out. "Ah'm thinkin', _maybe_ if Ah do absorb you... Ah might be able to control all my powers without burnin' out." They watched the sentinel lift a plane and face the airport. "Not like we have other options..."

Mystique sent him a severe look._ "Do it_. Just enough to see, not to knock you out." He says nothing, but Rogue takes his stare as approval. She taps his face quickly, just enough to feel the jolt. The memories and interesting feelings rush her as she tries not to pry. Then, she prayed she could use more than one powers long enough to send the robot away._ 'Or else, a lot of people are about to die. Includin' me.'_

Rogue clutched her fists and shut her eyes as Mystique began to scream. "Hurry, we must run!" Mystique worries, watching as it stalked towards the building.

_"Where?_ It'll just find us, all of us until we're exterminated." She shot back, her eyes streaming with involuntary tears. "We gotta take care of him. For good." Somehow, the shapeshifter didn't think that was about to happen. "Maybe... You_ should_ go." Her look to her former mother was not one of mercy, but it was to Augustus. She was still raging, but she knew the influence Mystique could have on someone. Deep down, she felt for him. "You change forms and you turn powers off." She turned back and prayed as the silver monstrosity came closer. "Not a whole lot more you can do..."

She was still Kurt's mother, and he would hurt to know she wasn't safe. She turns when she hears her load a shotgun. "We aren't going anywhere, even if you have insisted on getting yourself killed." Her eyes shined with a deep worry despite her pinched tone. Augustus drops his eyes, but he carries the sentiment.

"Don't I owe you, this much?" He asks when he has the courage. He knows her well, he knows she has no tolerance for betrayal. No understanding. Rogue sniffed.

"Y'all's funeral." Is her following mumble. Mystique gasps when three claws emerged from her hands, her brow furrowed in concentration. Then, feathered wings sprouted from her back as her forehead erupted into a magenta light. "Might wanna back up." The broad shouldered boy's eyes go wide when the sentinel tosses an airplane through massive, glass windows. He tugs Mystique as giant panes of glass, shatter.

"Rogue-" He watches as the glass shrapnel flew toward them. When she raises a hand, it all dropped to the ground with a crunch. She clutches a fist and the plane stops just short of her face. Panting, she takes a second to smile in relief. The pale, experimented mutant slithered behind the sentinel. Slowly. Grunting, Rogue hurled the massive plane back and sent the machine scraping through the building.

"You've done it..." Rogue wipes at her face as Mystique and Pulse look on. This is what her mother always wanted.

"Don't thank me,_ yet._" The octopus girl was still coming, scurrying on sprouted tentacles and the sentinel was reforming and rising back to it's feet. Rogue hasn't forgotten how much trouble she was. The girl would've killed her if it wasn't for Remy and Logan. "You might actually want t-" She stares as the blue skinned woman as she cocks the gun, up. Her lip is bit in a snarl.

"I _won't_ leave you to that monster, out there. Irene..." Augustus watches Rogue's face soften, maybe for the first time since she woke up. "She would_ cry_ to me... About what she saw, what happened to _you._" Rogue averts her eyes when she sees Mystique, shaking. Maybe, that was the reason she never justified her actions. Rogue didn't want to give her too much credit. "I won't be hiding when it happens. God rest her sou-"

"You and that _shot gun_ won't help me, no matter how impressively you handl-" Rogue ushers Mystique and Augustus back as the many legged mutant slapped the tiles in front of them. The stone sent debris flying, everywhere. Rogue's gritting her teeth teeth as she stares into hollow eyes. She acted dimwitted, but the girl snuck up on her. Rogue knew now she needed to be weary.

Mystique fires another round, but the mutant's tentacle turns to stone and blocks her way. "Damn it!"

_"Surrender mutant, alias: Rogue."_ Bastion drones, a red laser roving to identify her

"Go to hell," Mystique spat. They watched as Rogue flew to the air and caught a collapsing roof bannister, hurling it at the machine called Bastion. She raised a hand and pulled, Augustus jumping when the metal in the airport began to groan. Hiding people watched as tile and cabinets flew off the wall and smashed into both Bastion and Lolliga.

When she sees a red line target Mystique, she pivots and pushes her out the way. She left Mystique on the ground, staring up in shock as the laser blasted her through a shattered window._ "Rogue!"_ She bellowed, the blonde man stooping beside her.

"Don't get sentimental." Rogue says, forcing herself to stand and dusting herself off. "Kurt will just die if you get smushed here. He'll think Ah _let it_ happen." She takes to the air when Bastion crashes into the concrete where was standing, one of his arms transformed into a shining blade.

_"Target: sighted."_ Gritting her teeth, she unloaded an optic blast that seared metal. But, it didn't slow his assault. '_The X-Men... Remy, they'll be there here.'_ She almost wished she could count on them to stay somewhere, safe. This machine and that mutant would keep coming back. For her. For Charles. For Jean. She only had one inkling of an idea to save them, and they weren't gonna like it.

_It turns out, Carol Danvers was capable of more than just the abilities Rogue exhibited. Many, beyond her flight and superior strength. Her Kree DNA had been experimented on, and though Rogue didn't have that, she had the same powers. Access to a whole lot, if she took it. But, none could know what would happen if she did. She was still Rogue. Still a human mutant. Still with the same DNA._

_When she lit up in a white hot flare for half a second, the X-Men saw the power she had taken and held. Felt it. Knew, for as awesome as it was it would kill her. Instantly. The Binary 'power of a white hole' the Carol in her head instructs, hoping the stress will kill her. Her slight display of strength sent Apocalypse through time for a second time, and left her nearly dead. She awoke to several worried and angry faces in her infirmary room. _

_"What the bleep were you thinkin'?" _

_"That was the most power recorded on earth, ever." _

_"I couldn't see for a day, after. I vas right there, you..."_

_They saw a star start to be born, in front of their eyes. They saw Apocalypse crumble and not make another sound. After hovering through time, terrorizing different timelines. She countered his darkness with light and sent him back where he came from. Then, she wouldn't move. _

_"Carol Danvers did indeed have a Binary form.." Hank filled in after some investigating, glasses low on the bridge of his nose. "A form that allowed her tap into and access the power of a white hole... The birth of a star. You have... No idea how much power, I mean." Scott stood with his hand covering his face, more interested in whether his friend would be okay. Logan kept his hand on her, but Jean cried the whole flight home feeling the deep grief he felt. "She used it to defeat Apocalypses... All over the galaxy. To travel at the speed of light, through dimensi-" _

_"Are you saying Rogue can travel through space?" _

_Logan eyes are anchored on what he can see of the infirmary. He's too nervous to speak, feeling the girl's essence ebb and flow like the tide. _

_"If her body could withstand channeling it, perhaps. Might be able to create or design something on that front that can help her. But, until then..." _

_"She's never to do it, again." Logan says, kicking off the wall. Hank tosses a disconcerted at the door to her room. _

_"Not if she expects to live." Scott nods. _

_"You said Binary form? Good to know. It's off limits." God forbid Apocalypse showed up, again. He needed Rogue on his team for that conflict, aside from being a friend he can no longer imagine life without. _

_"We'll make sure she knows." Logan grunted, cracking a knuckle. _

She expects Charles to instantly pop in her mind for thinking it._ 'What choice do Ah have?'_ She thinks in frustration. He's targeting Jean and Charles, as well. As upset as they may be, she'd die before she watched a sentinel rip Charles from his school. She just couldn't let it happen, even if it meant making them sad.

* * *

_Gambit looked unsurely at the short, brown haired girl. The one Rogue and Logan saw fit to start a war, over. The more time he spent time near her, the more he remembered that other life. But, Rogue was nowhere in it. Not really. How could he fight to come back? "Gambit?" Blue eyes were focused impatiently on him as they crouched, knowing the resistance and the humans were chasing them. "Are you listening? This is our last chance to set things back the way they're supposed to be." _

_Their only plan was nuking this time, through whatever illusion had bound them here. And, using Rogue to do it. He could hardly will himself to go on. "Hello? What is in this crap world that..." She followed his stare, anchored at Rogue who was glowing with a faint light as all her powers activated. "Oh... You're not together, there." Rogue was an X-Man, and she wasn't sure what he's doing. _

_"Dunno if she'll ever get to know the real me." _

_"Ah'm ready." Rogue says with her face set in determination. This was the only way for them to get back to the truth. _

_"She'll find her way back to you, I know she will."_

Remy LeBeau wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do when he got there, but if he'd gotten to know the girl, he knew what she was thinking._ 'Robot attack her family, threaten Charles... Chére about to white out to protect 'em. Protect us, all.'_ Dread swirled in his stomach as he saw what remained of the airport. People are stranded nearby, hiding, trying to use phones to call help. Crying.

Cursing, he ran through the sea of shellshocked people and into the airport to see Mystique collapsed on the ground, Augustus hovered protectively over her. Rogue was pinned to the wall by a massive robotic arm, swinging and spitting angrily as she struggled to get to Kurt's mother. All the damage she'd done to the sentinel had been healed and reformed. But, when she saw Remy standing there in his trench coat, her blood ran cold.

Her team was coming, he was already_ there_. Bastion would destroy them all. "NO," She struggled wildly as he ran forward, his staff raised. "_Don't!_"

"Rogue!" Her heart skips a beat when he leaps out of the way of a laser, tumbling on the ground as he ran for her. "Rogue, we comin'!" Yelling, she ripped the sentinel's arm back and darted down to him, staring at him in concern. She had invulnerable powers and the sentinel could kill her, she hates to imagine how he'll fare against it. For _her_, no less.

"Remy, this robot is dangerous. Y's-" He gripped her hand in protest.

"Remy not goin' anywhere." She covers him when a bomb explodes beside them. She saves him from being burned, but the force is enough to knock him out. Maybe, concuss him as Rogue examines him in worry. He's out cold beneath her, her heart beating like a war drum in her chest. Augustus was already practically dragging Mystique, and she could feel the hum of the landing X-Jet. _'They have to get outta here.'_

Bastion said once he'd traveled time and seen into the future. Rogue was seeing any other ways to protect everyone she cared about. "Gus!" She cries, Remy by her side. Her covered hand is resting anxiously on his chest. Her former teammate does his best maneuvering to get back her side, Mystique dangling off his arm. He peers at her in worry, even if he's sure he doesn't really want him to. "Look, this sentinel is after_ me_." He's already shaking his head.

"Are you_ crazy,"_ She doesn't acknowledge his glowering look. "Rogue, you won't stand a chance. We should_ all_ retreat. Besides the fact your mother will kill me," She pouted

"They're hurt." She asserts, gesturing as Remy moans. "You get them out of here, Ah got _powers_ for this." He watches as her hand glows.

"B-But,"

"Go, Augustus. _Please._ Get them outside. And... Don't everyone else in." He frowned when she draped Remy against him and flew back to the air. He has no idea what she planned, but he doesn't like the looks of it. Her teeth gritting, she flew fist first towards the raging robot. Lolliga's tentacle caught Rogue's ankle, pulling her downward despite her efforts. _"Fine,_ then." Rogue huffs, feeling her body tingle as she channeled the energy. Then, she began to glow as she hung in Lolliga's grip, strung up by multiple tentacles.

_'You'll kill us both_.' A voice long gone silent says in her head.

_'Do you see another way to stop Bastion?_' She doesn't speak up, again. _'This... Is the only way.'_ She shuts her eyes, wondering what could've happened if she stopped pushing Remy away. '_Somethin' good, Ah think.' ..._

Scott and Logan meet Augustus when they get out of the jet, sensing that something is wrong. The shorter of the two took Remy off his hands and eyed Mystique, wearily. Rogue was inside. Still battling._ "Where is she,"_ Logan growls, his claws barely contained. He's still more than tight about Augustus swinging her over his back, like Tarzan.

"She... She told me to go, and to stay out... What is she doing?" Logan drops him back on the ground looks at the airport in horror._ 'No...' _

"She's going to go Binary..." Storm says quietly, thinking about what that meant. Piotr watches Kitty go colorless, beside her.

"If she does that, it'll _kill_ her!" Bobby half sobs, remembering how bright it'd been. Jean wraps an arm around him, her teammates' worry descending like a fog. He wishes she never met Carol Danvers. She's been determined to atone for something that was out of her hands, and he thinks it adds to her reckless behavior.

"No, she.. We can do something about Bastion,_ together_. That would b-" Light began pouring out of the building, waking both Mystique and Remy. The shapeshifter just sighed, watching as Kurt knelt beside her in concern. The standing team shield their faces, powerless to stop Rogue. When Remy opens his eyes, he realized what she's done._ 'No... Rogue,_' He stands in a hurry, despite being woozy on his feet.

_"Remy,_" Kitty says, her voice tight and panicked. "W-Wait a minute. You hit your head..." He ignored the scrape on his forehead.

_"We gotta get in there._" He says breathlessly, looking around. The floor began to shake under their feet, just like it had Before. _'No... Why did she.._.' She had to know they were coming. That they'd never leave her with Mystique or a sentinel. "She's..." They aren't sure how he's learned this important matter so quick after joining, but it didn't matter.

There was no turning back, now. Scott clutches a fist. "We just have to believe in her." He says, trying to hide how stunned he is. "That power, it's_ her's._ She'll send the sentinel away and protect the professor." Jean can't bare to meet his eyes.

Remy's not sure what he's more scared of, the sound and shaking he felt. Or, when it went quiet and still. Jean placed a hand on her forehead. "I... No longer sense that inhuman mutant..." She reported with a frown. She dare not check for Rogue. Sensing one of her own teammates dead or dying could send her own powers far out of control.

Kurt disappears in a plume of smoke, and Remy's feet are carrying him before Kitty can stop him. When he can bring himself to move, Logan follows. Remy finds the blue mutant halted by the former baggage claim area, Rogue draped delicately against the counter. Still. Her eyes, shut. Kurt can't bring himself to move. She promised him as his sibling she wouldn't do this. He knows the time traveling sentinel left her no choice, but he still feels hurt. Duped.

Remy blows past him as Logan stops to spare a firm hand on the younger mutant's shoulder before continuing onward.

_"Are ya scared?" They were about to end everything that they knew to go to a life they could hate. Suffer in, endlessly. That could somehow be worse than eternal war. A tear streamed down her face as he faced her, but she smiled. _

_"Not really." He smiles, his smile a bit sad. Of course she wasn't. She wasn't scared of anything._

_"What if... W-" _

_"We will." She says, her tone confident. "We'll find a way to each other. Promise." _

_Kitty stood, staring at the black blight seeming to threaten their world. Or, whatever had composed it. Rogue grabbed both their hands as they begin to glow._

"Rogue?_ C'mon."_ Logan hangs back instinctively when he gently slides a hand under her head. He tried not to investigate with his senses. He doesn't smell death, but he didn't sense a pulse from her, either. Holding his breath, he moved beside the cajun and laid a bare hand on her face. His breath hitches as he waits, prays that he didn't get to live one life with her to lose her, now_. 'Please.'_

Tante Mattie always said god smited fair weather disciples when they never went to church, but they prayed and begged for blessings. He can think of her death as nothing but a smiting as he drags a bare finger across her skin. Like silk. And, not reactive to his touch. Logan seems to press harder, as if that affected the transference of his powers.

_"Stripe."_ Is all he bites out, angrily. He'd always known with that power inside of her, there would be no begging her not to use it. He'd tried, they all did. But, he knew there would be a foe they'd have no choice but to unleash Carol's power on. He just feels she's hardly had a chance to live, at all. He didn't think the X-Men would lose her, already. The claws shoot out on his other fist, ready to find blame.

He wants to slice Mystique and Augustus, but he won't pry his hand from her face until he's sure he can't help her. Remy runs his hands through her hair and just prays. Offers any of his meager possessions, his life in exchange for her's. "It's... It's_ working._ Right?" Kitty's voice cracks when she sees the look on Kurt's face. How he doesn't look like he's moved since he ran in there. "K-_Kurt_?"

"Oh no," Is all Jean says, but Scott knows the tone. Sees the depression of her posture. He knows his telepath girlfriend well enough to know what it means. He drops his hand from his face and turns, right past Bobby.

"S-Scott... _Wait a minute-_" Augustus doesn't move as he's yoked up, a fist levied to his face.

"If she were at the school, she would've been... _We_..." He dropped blue eyes.

"I'm so_ sorry_, Scott. I deserve it." His fist only begins to shake.

Ororo tries to gently pull Logan away. Rogue's mutation has never been unresponsive for so long, even Kitty knew what it meant. "Come, Logan," He raised the fist with revealed claws. Not a threat, so much as an indication that he wouldn't move. Not until he could be sure. _"She's..."_

"Not yet." Is his mostly feral grunt, his eyes expectantly watching her face. She promised not to go out like this.

"Beating you _wouldn'_t be satisfying." Scott says, his voice choking with emotion and tears Jean can barely hold back, for him. "Do you realize what you did? You took her from her_ home_ to the last person she ever wanted to be with. And, they... If _you two_ were the last people she was with-" He dropped him back on the ground. "Live with that. It's punishment enough."

_"A little longer._" Logan demands as Ororo shields her face. His healing factor could heal anything, but it couldn't revive the dead.


	10. Chapter 10

Silver strands of hair slipped through Remy's fingers as Ororo guided Logan's hand, away from Rogue's skin. "I'm sorry," She breathed, the man not looking up from her face. _"I'm so sorry._" The only thing on his mind now was making Mystique finally pay for all the trouble she's caused. He's thinking about who would try to stop him, who_ could_ stop him, and how long it would take him to get to her. "We have to..."

He was swiveling out of Ororo's grasp when he heard a noise. He mistook it for Remy until he listened closer. Panicked tears were springing to their eyes, he could smell them. Regret. Anger. Denial. All sorts of emotions. But, his ears hadn't betrayed him. He turns, slowly as Ororo hangs tight to his arm. Jean unburied her face from her hands and looked up, Scott's arm wrapped around her.

Mystique looked into her son's face as Remy leaned closer to Rogue, praying his eyes weren't deceiving him_. "Petite?"_ She whimpered, one of her arms flailing against her hip. He grabbed her hand and squeezed, watching hazy, grey eyes focus on him. "Rogue?" Kurt broke from his mother's side and beside Logan, tears welling in his eyes. He'd never seen a finer example of prayer.

"Rogue?" Her eyes fluttered open and struggled to take in the faces around her.

"Ah_ remember,"_ She said with great concentration, eyes hovering over the southerner's face."You. Kitty." Logan almost laughs at her babble.

_"Hold on_, kid. You're exhausted." He pat her head soothingly, letting Remy's hand remain intertwined with her's (for now). "We'll get you back for the professor to look at, Okay?" Logan's not sure she hears his words. He's wiping his face and trying to slow his heartbeat, fend off the rage that had been welling at the thought of her death. Her brother is chattering with relief, Kitty behind him. Rogue didn't seem to notice any of the commotion over her, she hadn't broken her stare with Remy. He was frozen by the look in her eyes.

_"Everything._" She repeats. "The war, the world... All of it." Logan frowns when she only becomes more determined to communicate.

"You have de memories..." It was all he wanted for her to remember the memories of a broken time. Where he loved her and she loved him. A time that made no sense, but they had each other. He'd long forgotten about her remembering. "Rogu-"

"Ah'm_ sorry,"_ She says, fatigue making her weepy. He stroked her bangs before she could get too worked up. "Ah didn't _find_ you." She'd had no idea they lived a whole life, together. She had a sneaking suspicion neither one of them were supposed to remember. All she could tell was that she did, now. She could see it in every word, every stare. Now, his cryptic behavior made sense.

"Shhh. Yes, _chére_. Believe Remy. You did."

"We should have Hank look at her. The school is very worried." Storm says, disconcerted by Rogue's even more colorless complexion. Logan nods and moves to lift her when he realizes this time, someone else was there to pick her up. He watched as Remy lifted into her arms without breaking their stare. When she raised a hand to tuck hair behind her ear, Remy completed the motion with a free hand.

"Memories? Vhat are you going on about?" Kurt sighs, looking between the southern mutants with an arched eyebrow. They had been flirting since they found Remy, but their gaze made him want to blush. The girls all seemed to have a different reaction. Jean even wiped at her eye when her boyfriend wasn't looking. She isn't sure exactly what happened, but she feels it. And, it feels good to know her teammate has found something she's known since high school. She'll wait on relaying that to Scott, though.

"I thought you said you wouldn't go all defcon-4." Kitty accuses, the soft look in her eye betraying her frantic words.

"Sorry, Kitty." Rogue answers guiltily. Her face is leaned against Remy's shoulder. She looks at her brother and frowns. "Had it comin'." Even Remy snickers at that as they make their way to the X-Jet, many curious eyes anchored not only on the girl in Gambit's arms, but the closeness that makes it seem longer than the pair has known each other.

* * *

Logan stood in front of Charles' window, watching Rahne and Tabitha fly a kite outdoors. Remy sat with a smile hiding his deep discomfort. Of both psychics and interrogations, though he would love to get to the bottom of the fake memories pervading his life. Why Rogue now remembered, too. Did anyone else? Was it real? An elaborate elusion? Fake? His whole love and devotion to the girl, built on a_ lie?_

Charles holds his smile as Remy studies an expensive, nicely pressed suit. The bald man reached for his Newton's Cradle figure and started one of the balls in motion. "I think we've got it from here, Logan." He inserted himself in all the students' affairs, but especially _her's_. Charles remembers the nature of Wanda's illusion, and the girl will not open up about any of it with him, there. His growl signals his discomfort.

"You sure?" A silent nod and he's sliding out the door, exiting the office after one look back. When they were alone, Charles spoke.

"So, these memories..." Remy swallowed hard. "I thought only_ I_ retained memories of the event." Rogue's eyes are saucer wide, but Remy has always known he lived it. It was real, somehow.

"_Event_? Wait..." She fights the instinct to move closer to Remy as he spoke. The cajun is studying the scarf hanging above the moss green v neck she's wearing. Elbow length, suede gloves hiding her arms.

"Remember when Jean's powers had their second manifestation?" The words meant nothing to the thief, but Rogue squirms and becomes visibly uncomfortable. She'll never forget Jean's ashen skin and her panting. What felt like_ all_ of her memories crammed inside of her. The professor and Hank thought the Juggernaut had been the start of her psyche problems, but it'd really been _her._ "Magneto's daughter, Wanda... Her powers, either naturally have changed or due to her father's_ experimentation_..." His eyes hardened.

Remy was familiar with Magneto, and even reformed he was a man who was capable of anything. "She is capable of much more than we ever imagined. Much more than she ever should have been." Rogue feels sweat form on her brow. She knows just how powerful the Maximoff twin is, and also her instability. She makes Rogue look stable in comparison. "She has the power to change reality. As we know it."

"Wait," Rogue begins.

"Reality? Everyt'in? As _fille_ see it?" Charles is uncomfortable by the abject horror on their faces. Most adults shouldn't have the power at their finger tips, much less an abandoned girl.

"Yes."

"Y...You mean, she _made_ the world war torn and ending? Mutants extinct? Christ, _why?_" This seemed extreme, even for Magneto's daughter. Charles only shook his head. He was so angry with his friend for what he did to his children. But, he had things to do over with his own child. How could he judge?

"She suffered a psychotic break when her powers grew. Dealing with the chaos, it simply became too much for her mind. It began controlling _her_, and not the other way around." The New Orleans native notices when Rogue wraps her arms around herself, like this story resonated with her. It made him worry that she probably felt she and Wanda were similar. He'd been around his former boss' daughter, and he saw no similarities.

"Did she jus give Remy memories, or... Did it happen?" The telepath took a deep breath, knowing exactly what he was trying to ask.

"For a period of time that_ was_ our time. Until we were able to restore things to normal." He doesn't seem willing to budge about what that took. The southern mutant didn't seem thrilled that there were mutants out there with so much power. Especially when their powers drove them kind of crazy. "Most people didn't remember or did not want to remember, but you..." His eyes crinkle as he smiles at Remy. "I can't read your mind, but perhaps I should've asked."

Remy laughed, nervously as he scratched the back of his neck. "Kinda hard to explain,_ non?_"

"Understandably so." Rogue rubbed her arm, something else clearly on her mind.

"Where_ is_ Wanda? What's gonna happen to her, now?" Charles heaved a heavy sigh. Erik did not get as lucky as they got with Rogue.

"He is taking care of her in solitude, on Genosha. When something happens to him, his subjects are to take over. But, I assume her brother will go, then." Rogue felt stupid for the tears welling to her eyes. Wanda wasn't the nicest girl, but her memories were trapped in her head. She'd never seen a pleasant one of her's. She had knowledge of her traumatic early life, and her stay at the asylum. It made a lot of sense.

"That's_ horrible_." Charles looked out the window.

"Hence why most didn't want to remember, if they did. Remy, I don't think I'll be able to do work to your mind, Rogue however... If you'd like to forget," He finishes with a look that she doesn't contemplate. She looks at the cajun mutant and he looks just as certain.

"Thanks... Professor, but Ah think Ah'm okay." He tried to bite back the smile as the two shared another knowing look, their hands joining.

"As you wish."

* * *

Scott, Jean, Logan, Kitty, and Kurt stood on the back porch. Logan sipped black coffee, and Jean her tea as they all studied the two mutants sitting on the gazebo. Rogue and Gambit hadn't untangled from each other except to shower. None of them had ever seen Rogue so close, so comfortable, and so calm before. Especially with a _man's_ broad arms wrapped around her.

Jean took a pointed sip of her green tea, seamlessly communicating with Scott and Logan.

"I _still_ think it's the head injury." Kitty says, smiling when Logan cracks a smile.

"All Charles said is... They _bonded_ through a shared experience." The hairy man took another swig out of his mug. Charles didn't think it was a good idea to bring up the events that transpired. Some, like Scott and Jean, would never let it go. What was done is done, except for those two. "And, it's none of_ our_ business unless they talk to us about it... " A dark stare landed on Scott, who was known for being nosy.

"She look... Peaceful." Piotr says when he finds the right word, a massive hand on Kitty's pink shirt. He was excited to have a chance to sketch the girl (and former Acolyte) without so much tension in her posture. A haunted look in her eye. Kurt's tail swished.

_"Happy._" It's all he's ever wanted for his sister, even if it's with him. They didn't notice Logan trying, quietly, to eavesdrop on the conversation. He would have to trust her easy going body language. "She deserves it." Logan shut his eyes in quiet agreement before wading back inside. Time would tell if this was a good decision or a mistake, but the girl deserved as much of a chance to make them as anyone else.

The thief reads body language well, and the girl in his arms even better. Despite her tranquil demeanor, there was something on her mind. Had been since they spoke with their professor. It had to do with Wanda, the source of their fading memories. He saw her body tense up then and hold on to the tension despite her best effort to seem relaxed.

Their eyes met when she caught him musing about her, silently. "Y'tense." He says, amused as well by the eyes on their back. He saw through her paper thin smile, her real one stained in his mind._ "Qu'est-ce qui ne ve pas, mon douce."_ She's far more familiar with his french after her sudden recovery of memories. She smiles again, fingers rubbing over his gloves.

"Ah'm... Thinkin'. About, _Wanda_. About... Things." He leans up seriously and braces her shoulders with her hands. He wouldn't let her slip away, not now.

"Rogue, what'cha sayin'?" He bit back the urge to charm her. Her reluctance is killing him, and after all they've managed to go through he hopes she's not pushing him away.

"This might be a mistake." She shuts her eyes when tears began to well in them.

"Rogue, we bot' remember, everythin'. We know dis ain't a mi-"

"Ah'm not much different than Wanda." Her stare drops to shaking, gloved hands. It felt like her meltdown was chasing her, waiting to happen.

"Let Remy te-"

"You weren't_ there."_ She interrupted. "Ah've lost control of my powers, before. And... Ah was a _lot_ like her, Ah wasn't myself. The memories... The psyches, they took _over_." He remembers her frequent issues with migraines and black outs, the times when other personalities would take control. "Remy, my powers could evolve one day and put everyone in danger. Even worse if w-"

He took a black glove and pressed it gently to his lips. "Remy don'_ care_." He assures her, holding her stare. He's never been more sure. She studied the black, slick material of his skin suit that frame his face. The stubble on his chin, the color of his hair that she loved. "Jus' like ya friends don' care. Dat be a worry for another day." He pulled her close to him again as she sighed into his chest, amazed that he had successfully handled her (valid) worries.

_"Thank you._" She whispered so low, he can barely hear. She feels his muscles ripple beneath her fingers, then he stands defensively in front of her. Rogue follows his line of sight to see Augustus and Mystique standing in front of them. The shapeshifter is shrouded in a black cloak. "Don' want trouble, but ya found it." Remy asserts, his stare hard. The blonde mutant seems to be biting his tongue.

'_They are not here for trouble, I've allowed them here...'_ Charles says in Rogue's mind.

"Anna..." Mystique begins. "We've come to say sorry." It takes all of Rogue's remaining patience not to fly forward. "I should've... Acted _differently_." It's obvious the apology is painful, for her.

"Sorry. And, Ah go by Rogue. You know that." Her stare lands on Augustus and he fidgets, Remy crossing his arms when he feels she can handle it.

"It's no excuse for not telling you, but she really_ did_ do it to protect you. Both of us." Rogue shook her head. She had been right. The girl would never understand it was complicated. That he deceived her and cared about her in the same breath.

"Ah don't know if Ah'm capable of forgivin'_ either_ of you, Ah have to be honest." They both hung their heads. "Ah'm done runnin' from and hidin' my truth. Kurt might forgive you, but Ah can't. But... Ah do know Ah'm done givin' it my energy. Bein' angry about it. Like Ah've said before, Ah'm done." The cajun looks at them smugly, he had a different choice of words, but he couldn't have said it better.

"Can't you _try_ to understa-"

_"No,_ Momma." She cut in with a glare. "You say wanna protect me, but not swallowin' your pride and doin' things your way is _always_ more important. Don't let the door hit ya on the way out." Mystique bites her lip, knowing it's pointless to keep going with her.

"We're going to take some time, Rogue. A long time. I think even she can heal." Augustus isn't sure why he feels for the toxic woman, but he feels someone should. "We can change. You'll see."

"Do it for y'all." Rogue says, turning her back as Remy draped his trench coat around her. Pulse had good intentions, and he was a good guy deep down. But, she can't get over what's happened. She's already put him, them _both,_ in the past. Even the memories she shared with the man beside her. It was time to live, to make new ones. Remy and her future is facing forward, and from now on that's where she's going to look. The team has all wandered outside, watching as the pair approaches them. "Not for_ me_."

They both watched the figures disappear into the school.


End file.
